PRINCETON, W.Va. — Staff members from the state Office of Emergency Management are scheduled to be in Mercer County Thursday to begin assessments of damage caused by the heavy winds of Tropical Storm Helene.
Hundreds of county residents are reporting property damage including damage to their homes from falling trees. There were at least 21 homes damaged in Bluefield alone and 42 intersections blocked throughout the city.
Gov. Jim Justice put the county under a state of emergency beginning Tuesday night.
Mercer County Emergency Services Director Keith Gunnoe said the assessment teams will help the county come up with some accurate damage numbers that can be submitted to FEMA in a disaster declaration request.
Appalachian Power Company said, as of Wednesday afternoon, there were still about 7,200 customers in Mercer County without service.
We have restored power to 81%, or 229,900, customers who lost power in the wake of Hurricane Helene. With an additional 1,000 personnel arriving this morning, we will have 7,000 workers dedicated to restoring power. See the latest info at pic.twitter.com/NJxBdmnRyv
— Appalachian Power (@AppalachianPowe) October 2, 2024
Gunnoe said it’s getting more difficult for crews to get very many customers back on at once.
“They’ve obviously got some areas that are very heavily impacted. We’ve got some roads in some of the back areas of the county where the power infrastructure is absolutely destroyed, multiple polls down,” Gunnoe said Wednesday on MetroNews “Talkline.”
Gunnoe said they are asking Mercer County residents for “prayers and patience.”
“They are having to cut access into the areas to access what damage is to the power system to see what have to be replaced,” Gunnoe said. “In some of these areas the power outage is going to last for several more days.”
Appalachian Power announced Wednesday afternoon it now has 7,000 workers in the storm-impacted three-state area, the most for the company has ever had on a storm restoration effort.
Gunnoe said some of their remaining outages in Mercer County are linked to power lines that come out of McDowell County.
The Red Cross and Salvation continue to provide services in the county including three separate feeding locations.
All but one Mercer County school was able to reopen Wednesday.