Local state of emergency extended in Danville

State of emergency extended until 5 p.m. Oct. 26

DANVILLE, Va. – A local state of emergency will remain in effect through next week in Danville.

At Tuesday night's Danville City Council meeting, council members approved the request from the city manager.

A state of emergency has been in effect since last Thursday because of the damage caused by Tropical Storm Michael.

Declaring a state of emergency allows the city to get help faster.

"It helps us with predetermined contracts we have with folks. We don't have to go through the normal city procurement process with bids and all that stuff," Danville Fire Chief David Eagle said.

Eagle is handling the city's emergency management duties since the city's emergency management director recently retired from the fire department.

"So it really does help speed things up and helps us to get the city safe and whole as quickly as possible," Eagle said.

By the end of Wednesday, the city expected less than 200 Danville Utilities customers to be without power.

At the height of the storm, about 20,000 customers were without power.