Severe Storms Knock Out Power for Thousands Across Central Virginia

Trees came down across Goochland County Monday evening as a line of severe thunderstorms swept through Central Virginia, knocking out power to tens of thousands of Dominion Energy customers and leaving a trail of wind damage stretching from Mechanicsville to the North Carolina border.

Winds reached up to 60 mph as the storms moved through the region, with significant damage reported in Goochland, Short Pump, and the Nottoway area. An airport, not identified by name in initial reports, experienced strong gusts and rain, and additional damage was confirmed in Cumberland County.

The outage numbers climbed sharply through the evening. An early-night tally showed more than 46,842 Dominion Energy customers without power across the region. By the peak of the storm's impact, close to 100,000 outages were recorded on the Dominion Energy Outage Map. As of about midnight Tuesday, over 77,000 customers were still without service.

Forecasters had flagged the threat well in advance. Meteorologist Khalil McIver at NBC12 declared a First Alert Weather Day with a level 3 out of 5 risk for severe storms, and a tornado warning was issued for parts of Pittsylvania and Halifax Counties and the City of Danville before expiring. NBC12 reporter Taylor Bryan noted that hundreds of utility crews were staged across Virginia ahead of the storms but would not be deployed until conditions were safe enough for workers in the field.

Goochland residents who lost power can report and track outages through Dominion Energy's outage map and reporting portal. Customers of other area utilities also have options: Rappahannock Electric Co-op maintains an outage map and reporting page, and Northern Neck Electric Co-op customers can report outages by logging into their account or calling 866-663-2688. Southside Electric Co-op directs customers to its outage center, and Central Virginia Electric Cooperative offers both an outage reporting page and a map.

Appalachian Power, which serves portions of Southwest Virginia where the Roanoke County outage count alone reached 705 customers by 4:40 p.m. Monday, urged anyone facing an extended outage to charge devices now, keep an emergency kit stocked with water, non-perishable food, flashlights, and batteries, and make a plan for household members who rely on electrically powered medical equipment. Anyone with a generator should review the manufacturer's instructions before use, and Dominion customers can download the company's mobile app to sign up for outage alerts.

Restoration efforts were ongoing through the night, with the statewide count still above 77,000 as Tuesday began.