VIRGINIA POWER FINAL REVIEW ON HURRICANE IZZY

[hurricanedude]

Hurricane Isabel: A Final Review

A Devastating Storm

Hurricane Isabel was the most devastating natural disaster in Dominion's 100-year history. The storm blew through Virginia on September 18, bringing hurricane-force gusts ranging from 74 to 107 miles per hour.

Weather stations clocked sustained tropical storm-force winds from 44 to 69 miles per hour over what the National Weather Service described as "an unusually extensive area."

The huge storm system covered an area the size of Colorado.

One weather expert called it "a storm of historic proportions."


In its official report on the hurricane, the National Weather Service said Isabel had brought "permanent change to the landscape" in Virginia from fallen trees and storm surges.

Throughout most of Dominion's service territory, the winds bombarded homes, businesses and our distribution facilities with falling trees and limbs. Soil saturated from recent record rainfall made trees with root systems already weakened by drought much more susceptible to winds.

Dominion Caught The Brunt

Although Dominion's tree trimming expenses rose by more than 50 percent over the last four years to $30 million, no amount of cutting could prevent the massive destruction wrought by Isabel. The hurricane affected about 96 percent of Dominion's customers in eastern Virginia, 95 percent in central Virginia and 69 percent in Northern Virginia.

At the peak of the storm, 1.8 million of the company's 2.2 million customers in Virginia and northeastern North Carolina lost power.

In much of central and eastern Virginia, the damage was catastrophic. The damage was less severe but still very significant in most of Northern Virginia.

For example, 16 area water pumping and treatment stations lost power, as did 91 schools across Northern Virginia—about one in four.


Fortunately, no hospitals in Northern Virginia were affected, and important facilities, including the Pentagon, Fort Belvoir, Dulles and Reagan airports, and the Metro system, did not lose power.

Equipment Damage and Costs

Throughout our two-state service area, more than 10,700 power poles were destroyed, and 14,600 pole cross arms were broken. About 13,000 spans of wire had to be re-strung, and 7,900 transformers replaced. Our personnel are still counting the damage.

More than 60 percent of our primary distribution circuits were affected, causing service disruptions to more than 80 percent of our customers. These circuits deliver power to the lower-voltage circuits that serve homes and businesses. They had to be repaired before service to the lower-voltage circuits could be restored.

[rainstorm]

and that was not the BIG one

[JtSmarts]

Very true Rainstorm, I shudder to think about what may have happened Isabel had been a major storm.

[Rainband]

OMG!!!!! That was BIG enough. I don't even wanna think of what the BIG one would do :o

[rainstorm]

back to the stone age!!