PORTSMOUTH
The downtown area went dark shortly before 6 p.m. Sunday, several hours after Dominion Virginia Power had completed repairs to outages caused by Tropical Storm Hanna on Saturday.
Jim Norvelle, a Dominion spokesman, said a cross arm, which supports lines in the air, had broken at a pole above a substation in Portsmouth and dropped high voltage wires onto another set of wires. He did not know what caused the break.
More than 2,200 lost power, including the 911 dispatch center. Crews are working to make repairs, he said, and the emergency dispatch center was brought back online at about 7:30 p.m.
As the repairs were made, customers slowly regained electricity. The last group of customers were supposed to see the power restored shortly after midnight, he said.
At midnight, there were still 878 customers without power, according to the Dominion Web site.
Nearly 200,000 Dominion customers lost power as a result of Hanna on Saturday. Those repairs were completed in southeastern Virginia this morning, Norvelle said.
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911 has backup
"More than 2,200 lost power, including the 911 dispatch center. Crews are working to make repairs, he said, and the emergency dispatch center was brought back online at about 7:30 p.m."
Never fear - the 911 Emergency Communication Center has significant generator backup. While primary power (from Dominion) was indeed disrupted, the generators kicked in immediately, as designed, and switched over. There was no interruption in the handling of 911 calls, and no problems with radio traffic to public safety personnel - police, fire, or EMS.
Ports. Power
The problem was a part of a pole weakened by the winds, broke off bringing down a main power feed line. No antiquated lines, no fault of Dominion Power or the City of Portsmouth, An act of Mother Nature! Try complaining to her!!
Lights Out, A Regular Thing
I am a Portsmouth resident. The power has been going out on numerous occasions as of late. I will be filing an official concern with Dominion Power and the FCC. Is the problem antiquated lines? The power was out for my area from 5:51 PM until 2:20 AM. The lengthy power outages are not good for the city, nor the residents. Dominion Power increased our bill by 20% but I see no decrease in the amount of disruptions. I am not even counting the numerous short power outages that occur throughout the month. I feel like I am living in the dinosaur ages. I also feel that Dominion Power owes the citizens the courtesy of an explanation and the city officials should appeal on behalf of its citizens. Even the customer service rep. that I spoke with last night agreed that the # of outages have been ridiculous.