Appalachian Power gives Storm Response Update

GHENT, WV (WVNS) — Appalachian Power gave a Storm Response Update regarding outages caused by storms across West Virginia on Tuesday, April 2, 2024.

Governor Justice declares State of Emergency for Fayette, Nicholas, Kanawha, and Lincoln counties

According to Appalachian Power, around 123,000 customers in the state do not have power. The storm caused heavy damage across the state, and severe weather is expected later in the day that could cause more outages.

More than 200 contract and company workers were on storm response alert in preparation for outages caused by the weather, and are going to help with restoring service in areas that received large amounts of damage from the storms.

Not only are there crews working on restoring power in areas with large known outages and having damage assessors seeing what resources are required for repairs in areas that were damaged, 1,000 more storm response workers are coming to help in West Virginia from states as far away as Missouri and Indiana.

More than 16,000 people without power in Fayette County

According to Appalachian Power, there are various restoration estimates for those without power, and that many customers who do not have power will have their power back on before the estimated times.

  • Wednesday, April 3, 2024 at 11:00 p.m. – For around 90 percent of customers in Boone, Logan, Mingo, and Raleigh counties.

  • Thursday, April 4, 2024 11:00 p.m. – For approximately 90 percent of customers in Cabell, Clay, Fayette, Greenbrier, Jackson, Kanawha, Lincoln, Mason, Nicholas, Putnam, Roane, and Wayne counties.

Multiple incidents cause traffic delays on Route 19 in Fayette County

Restoration could take longer in certain instances with areas that need extensive repairs, and more severe weather and outages could happen later on, which would then add to the current amount of outages.

Weather such as high winds could not only add to the number of outages, but they can be risky for workers who are working to restore power, and result in slowing restoration times.

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