Dominion updates Hampton Roads outages: 'Not the steady downpour we need'

NORFOLK, Va. — The number of Dominion Energy customers without power in Hampton Roads has fallen sharply, but thousands remain in the dark Sunday evening as salt-related outages continue across the region.

As of 7:45 p.m., about 4,800 customers were without power — down from roughly 20,000 earlier in the day. Most outages are now centered in Chesapeake, with additional customers affected in Virginia Beach and parts of northeastern North Carolina.

Dominion Energy said Sunday's rain helped bring outage numbers down but fell short of what is needed for a full recovery.

"While today's rain has helped, it has not been the steady downpour that we need to wash off all the salt," Dominion Energy said.

The outages stem from salt that built up on power equipment when strong winds from a recent nor'easter pushed salt spray from coastal areas far inland. That salt, once activated by rain, can carry an electrical charge and damage equipment.

Dominion Energy spokesperson Cherise Newsome said the salt poses real dangers — not just to equipment, but to the public.

"Salt activation can cause equipment to experience electrical sparks and fires, and so if you see any downed wires, any downed poles, any damaged equipment, please stay away from it," Newsome said.

Anyone who spots downed lines or power poles is asked to report them to Dominion by calling (866) DOM-HELP.

Crews are working through the night and into Monday. Dominion said it brought in additional crews from other service regions across the state to help speed restoration. Those crews are replacing equipment with more salt-resistant materials and installing new power poles, which the company said requires additional time.

Newsome said Dominion's weather team anticipated the problem before outages began and moved crews into position ahead of time.

"Our weather team alerted our operations teams to be on alert for a potential salt activation. And what that does is help our teams to stage equipment in the appropriate areas. So that meant we already could dispatch crews to those trouble spots," Newsome said.

Dominion said outage numbers may continue to fluctuate as crews work through the night.

As of 1:15 p.m. Saturday, more than 22,200 customers were without power, according to Dominion Energy's online outage summary.

• Norfolk — 18,466
  
• Virginia Beach — 1,559
  
• Chesapeake — 1,467
  
• Hampton — 601
  
• Newport News — 97

As of 4 p.m. Saturday, there were just under 19,200 customers without electricity, according to the online outage tracker.

• Portsmouth — 8,406
  
• Norfolk — 4,529
  
• Virginia Beach — 1,625
  
• Chesapeake — 4,334
  
• Newport News — 97

As of 10 p.m. Saturday, that number had dropped to roughly 3,200 customers according to the outage summary.

• Norfolk — 1,482
  
• Virginia Beach — 842
  
• Chesapeake —395
  
• Portsmouth — 319
  
• Poquoson City — 149
  

As of 10:15 a.m. Sunday, that number had dropped further to 3,089 customers according to the outage summary.

• Virginia Beach — 1,392

• Norfolk — 865
  
• Chesapeake —323
  
• Portsmouth — 158
  
• York — 271
  
• Williamsburg — 77

As of 8:45 p.m. Sunday, that number had dropped to just over 2,000 customers according to the outage summary.

• Chesapeake —777
  
• Virginia Beach — 559

• Norfolk — 529
  
• Poquoson City — 160

This is a developing story, so check back with WTKR.com for updates. Did you lose power at your house? Share your update on the News 3 Facebook page.

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