Thursday, July 5, 2012
EXTRA ONLINE EDITION MORE JULY 4 PHOTOS. PAGE 5
Hurricane hosts Fourth of July Celebration Hurricane gave Putnam County residents a chance to think about something besides power outages and extreme heat on Wednesday afternoon as the city hosted its annual Independence Day celebration. Thousands turned out along Main Street in Hurricane for an afternoon parade that featured the Hurricane High School band (top left), a military honor guard (top right), dozens of local politicians and the city’s own Fire Department. Following the parade, area residents were able to go to Valley Park in Hurricane for a free evening of activity that included waterslides, face painting, clowns, games, and of course fireworks. Turn to page 5 for more from the Fourth of July celebration. Photos by Kristi Bailey
9,000 remain without power in Putnam as clean-up continues Appalachian Power predicts full restoration in county by Friday night WINFIELD -- As of Wednesday afternoon, approximately 57 percent of Appalachian Power's customers who were out of power as a result of last Friday’s storm have been restored. In West Virginia, 147,408 of the company's half-million customers remain without electric service, including 9,054 in Putnam County. The company is expecting approximately 750 additional workers to arrive today, who will assist the more than 3,000 workers already in place. Additional crews will continue to join the restoration effort until the last customer is restored, the company said. As line professionals finish up
work in other parts of the country, they are shifting to Appalachian Power territory. According to the company, outages are restored by priority. Critical community infrastructure, such as hospitals, water and sewer stations are given highest priority. Then, priority is given to outages that will restore the largest number of customers when a repair is made. RESTORATION ESTIMATES It is estimated that ninety-five percent of Appalachian’s customers should have power restored by late Sunday. Friday night, July 6 - Greenbrier, McDowell, Mercer, Mon-
roe, Putnam and Summers counties Saturday night, July 7 – Boone, Cabell, Jackson, Lincoln, Logan, Mason, Mingo and Wayne counties Sunday night, July 8 - Clay, Kanawha, Fayette, Nicholas, Raleigh, Roane and Wyoming counties DAMAGE ASSESSMENT Damage is extensive to both the distribution and the transmission systems, according to Appalachian Power. More than 90 distribution substations were taken out by the storm and all but 13 are back in SEE STORM ON PAGE 3
Appalachian Power workers work to repair a downed powerline near Hurricane in the wake of Friday’s storm. Photo courtesy of Appalachian Power
The Putnam Standard SEND YOUR COMMUNITY NEWS TO US AT JACKBAILEY@THEPUTNAMSTANDARD.COM