NORFOLK, Va. — Strong winds and heavy rain rolled through Hampton Roads Tuesday, downing trees and knocking out power.
Dominion Energy spokeswoman Cherise Newsome said roughly 110,000 customers lost power during the storms. Hampton Roads residents Eric and Lauryn Harris were among those impacted.
“Power was out for about an hour or so," Eric said. "We lit some candles and just kind of sat it out...”
13News Now caught up with the couple on their way to stock up on canned goods.
“When [the power] went out on Tuesday, we were like, ‘Well, we really need to figure out what kind of food to have in the house, so we can be better prepared,'” Lauryn said.
As the region may see another round of thunderstorms overnight, Newsome said crews are prepared to step in.
“We have moved around resources to Hampton Roads. We used a lot of materials and supplies for the storm on Tuesday: power poles, wires, conductors," she explained.
Newsome said Dominion Energy is roughly halfway finished with its Strategic Underground Program. Crews started the project in 2014 and so far, they've buried nearly 2,000 miles of power lines to help prevent outages.
Newsome said the underground lines can reduce the time it takes to restore power by up to 50%.
“By focusing on the ones that are most outage-prone and burying them underground, then we are reducing the impacts from the storm because they’re not as susceptible to wind and rain the same way that overhead lines are," she said.
Newsome emphasized the importance of staying aware and turning on weather notifications, especially when storms are expected to hit in the late night hours.
“We understand people are tired of storms. They’re either ready for sunny weather or something warmer, but winter is here, and so storm season is here," Newsome said.
Newsome said the easiest way to report an outage is through Dominion Energy’s mobile app. You can also stay up-to-date on outages by visiting Dominion Energy's website or call 866-366-4357.