Tropical Storm Isaiasspawned high winds and at least one confirmed tornado in Delaware Tuesday.
And that left tens of thousands without power at some point.
Delmarva Power began assessing the damage left behind by early Tuesday afternoon and Delmarva Power communication manager Jake Sneeden says it was extensive.
“We saw a lot of damage across our system; a lot of tree damage and trees coming down into our equipment; a lot of wires down, a lot of snapped poles and a lot of things we haven’t seen before - volleyball nets up in transmission lines," said Sneeden. "So we were dealing with a lot of stuff, clearing it off the lines where possible, but mostly about assessing the damage.”
Sneeden adds it has been a couple of years since he’s seen damage like this.
“The most extensive damage in recent memory that I have is Winter Storm Riley, which had a good amount of damage,” said Sneeden.
Riley was a powerful nor’easter that hit the area in March 2018.
Sneeden notes that at the height of the storm Tuesday, 58,000 Delmarva Power customers in Delaware were in the dark, with New Castle County reporting the most outages and damage.
As of 10 p.m. Wednesday, just under 3,400 Delmarva Power customers remain without power. The Delaware Electric Cooperative reports it has cleared all of its outages.
Sneeden says the utility is providing restoration times Wednesday for customers still without power, and most should have the lights back on by Thursday. But he notes some outages could extend into Friday.
He adds restoration times are simply estimates and can change at depending on how much damage crews assess.
