ROANOKE, Va. – Tens of thousands of customers are without power in the region, including more than 55,000 customers of Appalachian Power alone as of Tuesday evening.
The ice brought down trees, leaving some without power trapped in their homes, as one woman reported to the 10 News Help Desk.
“I drove toward 220 and found that tree down. And then I decided to leave our neighborhood via Bandy Road. And there is a tree that has taken down a live wire that’s across Bandy … and was turned back from that route,” said Caroline Stainback, who lives in Roanoke County.
She said it’s not the first time she and her neighbors have been without power.
“Ours often goes out when there is any ice or snow on Crowell Gap Road,” Stainback said. “The last ice storm, we lost power for about two and a half days, and we toughed it out for one day and then went over to a local motel.”
Appalachian Power said it maintains 26,000 miles of overhead distribution lines in the commonwealth and uses outage data and current vegetation conditions to develop its maintenance program on a yearly basis.
A short time after 10 News spoke with Stainback, Thayer Power and Communication and Asplundh crews arrived and worked to clear the trees and the power lines. The crew said there are many factors that make restoring power once trees fall a little tricky.
“That tree can be pinned up against the line, somebody could cut it the wrong way, it could fall on somebody,” Jacquez Younger said. “It’s just a lot more to go through. You have a lot more guys involved with it with the tree crews and us.”
Those efforts paid off: Stainback told 10 News her power came back on around 4 p.m. Wednesday. For others in the region, it may be Friday night before service is restored.