Smith Island power restored Saturday

A&N Electric Cooperative crews completed power restoration to Smith Island Saturday afternoon in the wake of a tornadic waterspout that damaged over a dozen homes and utility equipment.

The cooperative expects those members’ power to be restored by this afternoon. The extent of the damage and the location of the damaged power lines led to a longer restoration effort for members.

“Some of the power line damage is located out in the marsh, making its accessibility more difficult for our guys to make repairs,” said Joe Cataldo, A&N Electric Cooperative Vice President of Construction and Operations. “While working to restore the power we’re taking the opportunity to shift those lines closer to the nearby road which will make them easier to access and help any outage restorations in the future.”

The remaining residents on Smith Island had power restored Thursday night after cooperative personnel were able to assess the damage, isolate it and start the island’s generator.

In addition to the line crews, other cooperative personnel traveled to Smith Island to assist residents during their cleanup effort.

A&N Electric Cooperative is the electric distribution cooperative that supplies power to the Eastern Shore of Virginia peninsula, Tangier Island and Smith Island, Md.

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