PITTSYLVANIA COUNTY, Va. – While the city of Danville itself did not have many power outages, surrounding areas had several downed trees and power lines.
Danville Utilities has 42,000 customers they serve. On Saturday morning, 15,000 of them were without power as ruminants of Hurricane Ian swept through lower Pittsylvania County.
While the rain wasn’t so much the issue, 30 MPH gusts of wind caused damage to 11 major lines serving neighborhoods that went offline.
Jason Grey is the city of Danville’s Director of Utilities. He says the wind is a big reason why crews are expected to work long shifts throughout the day.
“It was very impactful with trees down, power lines down. We have a list of broken poles that we have to attend to, to get service back up in certain areas,” Grey said.
Danville Utilities has continued to provide updates throughout the day on their progress through their Facebook Page.
One of the things that could slow down their work is the weather.
“Light rain is not a very big problem but if it starts to become heavy rain or any kind of wind, it does prevent us from taking our buckets in the air or linemen from climbing poles,” Grey said.
While it’s important the weather cooperates, it’s also important customers do as well.
“Just be patient with us. We’re working as fast as we can, as safely as we can,” Grey said.