2,700 still without power from Tuesday storm as Delmarva makes repairs
It's been more than a day-and-a-half since a winter storm pummeled Delaware and neighboring East Coast states, causing widespread flooding, tree damage and power outages.
As of noon on Thursday, about 2,700 Delmarva Power customers were still without power, the majority of whom are located in New Castle County.
While the company's outage map estimated power restoration by 11 p.m. on Friday for all affected customers, Delmarva said this is a conservative estimate based on “the extremely laborintensive and time-consuming work our crews are currently performing.”
These estimates are calculated by looking at repair history and data from past storms, and are not an exact science − something local residents have experienced this week.
One woman told Delaware Online/ The News Journal that on Wednesday night, Delmarva estimated a Friday repair, but that her power had returned by Thursday morning. Others on social media echoed her, saying power was back on just hours after receiving the Friday estimate.
Company spokesperson Zach Chizar said while Delmarva doesn't have exact timeframes for all customers, “there are pockets were it might be (Thursday) afternoon, 11 p.m. (Thursday), Friday afternoon or 11 p.m. Friday.”
“It really just depends on where you fall within the above (repair) process,” he added.
So how exactly does Delmarva determine what outages to tackle first, and who gets priority?
Delmarva's repair process
Chizar said that ahead of storms like Tuesdays − or the one predicted to hit the area Friday − the power company monitors the weather carefully to ensure it has “the proper staffing and resources in place.”
By the time the winter storm hit earlier this week, Delmarva Power had “enhanced” staffing plans in place, which included contractors and tree trimming crews on standby to aid where needed.
Once residents began to report outages, the company triaged the situation, first addressing “life-threatening, safety and health situations,” Chizar said.
One such emergency occurred Tuesday night, when several motorists were trapped in their cars after at least four utility poles were sheared off along Milltown Road in Milltown.
Downed, live wires fell across a pickup truck and near another car, prompting firefighters from Mill Creek Fire Company to respond. Delmarva employees, too, rushed to the area to cut power so first responders could help get the motorists out.
No one was injured during the incident.
Though Delmarva prioritizes emergencies such as this, other crews continue to work during storms to restore power to other areas, beginning with equipment that will return power to the greatest number of customers first, Chizar said.
This includes transmission lines “serving thousands of customers and substation equipment that affects widespread areas.”
Chizar said that usually happens during the initial hours of a storm and that Delaware is now far past this point.
On Thursday, the company was at a third stage, with power workers focusing on main distribution lines serving large numbers of customers and secondary lines serving neighborhoods. Once these are repaired, crews will turn their attention to individual homes and businesses that are still without power.
These kinds of localized fixes are made when power equipment fails right at someone's home or business, such as a blown fuse or a tree hanging on a single residence's power line. These kinds of repairs also occur less frequently.
Chizar said Delmarva has been working with others to tackle Tuesday's repairs, including Pepco, its sister utility company in the Maryland and Washington, D.C. area. It's also brought in contractors and mutual assistance crews from: Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Texas.
These are in addition to those contractors in Delaware that the company “regularly” works with.
Additionally, Chizar said, customers still without power should have already received, or will be receiving, automated calls with more detailed restoration times. They can also track the repair process online by logging into their account.
For more information about the process, visit delmarva.com/outages/ preparing-for-an-outage/our-restoration-process.