CREWE, Va – As of 9:30 a.m., Monday, Oct. 15, approximately 7,000 Southside Electric Cooperative (SEC) members remain without power after the devastating effects of Hurricane Michael.

“Hurricane Michael created devastation across the majority of our service territory,” said Jeff Edwards, SEC’s president & CEO. “Hundreds of fallen trees created miles of downed power lines to repair along with approximately 100 broken poles. This is the worst damage I have seen in my 33-year career, with the exception of hurricanes Hugo and Isabel.”

Despite the massive damage and dangerous conditions, approximately 33,000 members have been restored from the initial 40,000 impacted.

Edwards added, “Our employees are working tirelessly, assisted by our extended family of sister cooperatives and contractors to reconstruct our electric grid torn apart by the high winds of Hurricane Michael. Our restoration efforts have been somewhat hampered due to flooded roads created by the storm’s torrential rains.”

Due to the extent of damage to SEC’s distribution system, outage restoration efforts are expected to continue into this week.

“We will continue to work until everyone’s power has been restored. I thank everyone for their patience and understanding,” Edwards explained.

SEC wishes to again remind members and those in the community to please stay away from any downed power lines and equipment. Treat all damaged electrical infrastructure as if it is energized.

To report outages, please call: 1-866-878-5514. Another option for outage reporting is through SEC’s TextPower service. Members who are enrolled can text #out to 866-878-5514.

Southside Electric Cooperative is a not-for-profit, member-owned electric cooperative that serves more than 56,000 homes and businesses in portions of 18 counties in central and southern Virginia.  Headquartered in Crewe, SEC has district offices in Altavista, Crewe, Dinwiddie and Powhatan. For more information, visit www.sec.coop.