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Approximately 600 Charlotte County residents saw power restored Monday and overnight but 4,900 people are still waiting for power to be restored following last weekend’s ice storm.

The Randolph area is one of the hardest hit places in Charlotte County with 495 Southside Electric Cooperative (SEC) customers without power and 104 Dominion customers waiting for power to be restored. The Keysville area has 900 SEC customers without power and 456 Dominion customers who have been without power since the weekend.

A SEC spokesperson said Monday the cooperative had 260 workers in the field to help repair issues.

“Due to the number of broken poles and damaged lines, restoration is going to take time,” a press release from SEC said. “Based on how the system is designed, SEC crews will be working to first restore electricity on larger, three-phase lines that serve more members. If a SEC member is served by a single-phase line, it will take time to get their power flowing again. While a good amount of progress is being made, it will likely be several days before all members have electricity. SEC apologizes for this inconvenience and want all members to know SEC is working as quickly and safely as possible.”

Dominion Energy has said it expects all of its customers to have power by Tuesday evening.

County leaders are working on coordinating several initiatives to help residents cope with the lack of power.

• All fire stations are open to dispense bulk water – bring your own containers.
• Keysville and Phenix fire stations are open as warming stations.
• Bottled water was delivered by God’s Pit Crew to the Charlotte Court House fire station and will be delivered to the other stations from there. They also delivered bulk Gatorade and protein bars.
• Charlotte County Schools has donated food that is currently available at Charlotte Court House, Phenix, Keysville and Bacon District fire stations.
• The Red Cross has arrived from Lynchburg with 314 ready heat meals, 244 snack packs, 15 cases of bottled water and 100 blankets. Sari Goff, director of the Department of Social Services, is coordinating within her department and with Meals on Wheels for delivery.
• God’s Pit Crew is sending a crew of volunteers to cut up trees in yards and stack at the side of the road. They will be in the area for two weeks, staging from the Charlotte Court House fire station. Any citizens needing assistance with tree cleanup on their property, may contact the County Administration Office at (434) 542-5117 beginning Tuesday, Feb. 16, during normal business hours (8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.) to be added to the list.
• The Department of Social Services is coordinating with local churches to provide meals for these volunteers to include one meal in the morning and one in the evening. Any churches or other groups that would like to volunteer to assist with these meals are asked to contact Sari Goff at (434) 547-6368.
• Food Lion in Keysville is now open for business as well.

Crews are in a race to restore power before the next winter storm rolls through the area. A storm similar to last weekend’s is expected to bring more ice and cold weather Wednesday night into Thursday.