AEP: Northern Panhandle Power Restoration Nearly Complete
Alan Olson Trending
The vast majority of the thousands of Northern Panhandle residents who lost power after Saturday's high winds have had that power restored, according to Appalachian Power.
As of 4:30 p.m. Monday, there were 672 customers without power in Marshall and Ohio counties, according to the AEP outage map. The vast majority of those still without power were in southern Marshall County. In that area, there were still 613 customers still in the dark.
That's a major difference from Saturday night, when more than 7,000 customers in the two counties lost power after storms with high winds blew through the area. Appalachian Power officials said those winds caused "significant tree-related damage" to electrical infrastructure throughout the state.
More than 900 workers were still on the job restoring power as of Monday afternoon, Appalachian Power said, including 640 line workers, 150 tree removal workers and 115 damage assessors.
According to Appalachian Power, those still without power in Marshall and Ohio counties should have that restored by tonight or sooner. They join Cabell, Jackson, Mason and Wayne counties with that goal, as those areas were where the windstorm damage was greatest.
Clay, Fayette, Kanawha, Logan and Mingo counties were scheduled to have power restored by Monday night.
At its height, the outage affected more than 58,000 AEP customers in West Virginia and Virginia.
Appalachian Power officials reminded customers that, while repair efforts continued, they should remain aware of downed power lines, which could still be live and dangerous to pets and passers-by. If someone happens upon a downed line, they should call AEP or 911.