CHESAPEAKE, Va. — On a hot and muggy Thursday in Chesapeake, one of Dominion Energy’s crews spent the day installing new street lights along a stretch of South Battlefield Boulevard.
It’s one of several projects crews are trying to finish up ahead of Hurricane Isaias.
Bonita Billingsley Harris, Dominion Energy’s spokewoman, said crews are prepared for any impact Hurricane Isaias may bring.
“We plan year-round for storms like this, so we’re always prepared when they come up," Billingsley Harris said. "It’s just a matter of where it’s gonna hit. We’ll be ready for it.”
Despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Harris said crews will be on standby around the clock, ready to deploy to the hardest-hit areas.
Taylor Pruitt, a line worker for Dominion Energy, said they’ve kept their response standards up during the pandemic.
“The response is gonna be the same," Pruitt said. "We’ve got plenty of people and help, we’ll be out there as soon and as safely possible.”
On Thursday, Dominion Energy crews made sure their trucks were loaded up with all of the equipment they’ll need ahead of the storm.
Billingsley Harris said they’re continuing to watch Isaias’ forecast to determine where to send crews.
“We always focus on critical infrastructure first, and public safety," she explained. "Once we get those critical customers out of the way, we work on the power lines that have the most outages first, and work our way down to the last customer at the end of the line, so that we can get the most people restored as quickly and safely as possible.”
They’re preparing for the worst, but hoping for the best.