COURTLAND

Five-hundred twenty-nine customers in Southampton County are without electricity following Tropical Storm Michael’s sweep through Virginia on Thursday and early Friday.

According to Daisy Pridgen, a Dominion Energy spokeswoman, the outage is widespread both in the county and throughout Virginia.

At one time, a half million customers were without power in the state, and that number is now down to 432,000 system-wide as of 10 a.m.

Pridgen said Dominion Energy is in “damage assessment mode” now and that patrolers are out assessing damages. Simultaneously, crews are working around the clock to restore power as safely and quickly as possible. Additional teams have been called in from out of state.

She did not have a timeline as to when electricty would be restored in Southampton County.

To report an outage, said the spokeswoman, customers should call 866-366-4357.

She also emphasized that people should stay at least 30 feet away from any downed power lines as they could still be live. Call that same number to report sightings of those fallen wires.