Mon Power continues to project it will be the end of the weekend before most all of its customers in the snow-covered mountain counties of West Virginia have their lights back on.
Company spokeswoman Patti Michel told MetroNews Wednesday the outage numbers are around 20,000 customers in Barbour, Preston, Randolph, Tucker, Upshur and Webster counties.
The obstacles remain the same.
(Picture above–seven bucket trucks needed to repair line along Route 33 in Bowden, Randolph County)
“We’re finding a lot of snapped poles, still a lot of damage,” she said. “And we’re still hindered by the snow, it hasn’t really melted and gone anywhere.”
There are 3,100 Mon Power workers, crews from other states and contractors working to restore service.
The power first went out in the early morning hours of Tuesday, Oct. 30, when moisture from Hurricane Sandy met up with a cold front. The higher the elevation, the more snow that came.
Michel says Mon Power’s customers have been very understanding.
“They know we want everybody to have life’s needs,” she said. “They’re (repair crews) doing their jobs like they do every single day. This time it’s just a little more intensive.”
Mon Power hopes to have the majority of its customers back on by Friday night but those in more remote areas may have to spend another weekend without service.
Outage numbers Wednesday afternoon for some counties in Mon Power’s service district were Preston 5,500; Randolph 4,000; Upshur 3,000; Webster 2,000; and Tucker 1,500.