Electric News Releases - 1999

September 14, 1999

Virginia Power Prepares For Hurricane Floyd

RICHMOND, Va. -- Virginia Power has begun preparing line crews and other emergency response employees for Hurricane Floyd, whose front edge could arrive in Virginia Wednesday. Heavy rains and high winds are expected throughout the service area Thursday.

Company weather forecasters believe the hurricane will come ashore somewhere along the Georgia-South Carolina border and perhaps as far north as North Carolina. Major outages may occur in the inland areas of Virginia Power's service area along the Blue Ridge Mountains as high winds down trees and power lines.

The tremendous size of Floyd, which has tropical force winds extending more than 200 miles from its eye, means that, at least at the outset, Virginia Power may not be able to get assistance from neighboring utilities. However, Virginia Power has standing commitments from area contractors to supply crews and equipment.

"We will not lend assistance to other utilities until our customers have had their electrical service restored," said John Shenal, vice president-Distribution Operations. "But because Floyd will affect several states, we also cannot expect help from our neighboring utilities until they have restored service to their customers."

Virginia Power has issued instructions to its line crews and other members of its emergency team to be packed and ready to respond quickly to assist in restoration efforts, regardless of where the storm strikes. This includes line crews that physically make the repairs as well as support staff. Extra operators will be put on duty in the company's Customer Service Center to communicate with customers who have questions.

Virginia Power replacement inventory is adequate for normal tropical storm damage. Hurricane Floyd, however, may be the strongest storm to hit Virginia since Hurricane Camille in 1969.

"We restored power outages caused by Hurricane Dennis in good time," Shenal said. "We will meet the challenge of Hurricane Floyd."

Virginia Power encourages its customers to call toll free 1-888-667-3000 to report outages or downed power lines. The company's outage reporting system, which consists of operators as well as a computer-powered voice response unit, can handle 100,000 calls an hour.

Virginia Power urges its customers to pay attention to weather reports and, if Hurricane Floyd nears, take common-sense steps to prepare for possible outages:

• Have a battery-operated radio or television.
• Listen to weather reports.
• Check to make sure there are fresh batteries in flashlights and radios.
• Fill any prescription medicines that are close to running out.
• Gas up vehicles in case evacuation is required.
• Stock up on bottled water, canned foods with a manual can opener, and foods that do not have to be heated.
• Make sure to have a good first-aid kit.

Virginia Power is the principal subsidiary of Dominion Resources Inc. (NYSE: D), an energy company with headquarters in Richmond.

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