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CHARLOTTE COURT HOUSE – Residents can expect a windy weekend throughout this region. Southside Electric Cooperative and Dominion Energy say they’re already monitoring the situation and taking precautions. 

According to officials with the Blacksburg hub of the National Weather Service, a front is coming in late Friday, March 31, and is expected to stick around through Saturday, April 1. On Friday, folks can expect a breezy day with 10 to 15 miles per hour winds. But as the front comes through late Friday, winds will start picking up to 15 to 20 miles per hour with gusts getting up to 30 to 35 miles per hour.

On Saturday, residents can expect high winds throughout the day. The National Weather Service says to expect southwest winds of around 25 to 30 miles per hour with potential gusts of 40 to 50 by the afternoon. Fortunately, by Sunday morning, winds are expected to be back to normal at around 5 to 10 miles per hour. 

Southside Electric Cooperative, Dominion watch 

Now that wind will mix with rain to bring storms, possibly heavy at times, to Farmville and the surrounding area. It also increases the potential for fallen trees and electrical poles. Southside Electric Cooperative officials say work crews are ready in case something happens. 

“Southside Electric Cooperative monitors the weather continually and our crews stay prepared for whatever weather conditions come our way,” SEC officials said in a statement. “Our pole yard is well stocked, as are all our supplies.” 

In addition, SEC officials said, the company keeps a line crew on duty at all times. 

Any SEC members who may experience an outage this weekend are encouraged to text “#out” to 866-878-5514 using the mobile number on their account or call 866-878-5514 to report the outage using the automated service. You can also click here. 

Dominion officials said the same, that they were watching things develop. 

“We are monitoring the forecast,” said Dominion Energy spokesman Jeremy Slayton. “We have crews and equipment staged, ready to respond to make repairs and restore service if outages occur.” 

Any residents who use Dominion Energy can call 866-366-4357 to report any outages. 

Be prepared   

There are several steps you can take to prepare before the storm arrives. First off, make sure your devices are fully charged. That includes your phone, computer and other electronic devices. Also, Slayton advised, be sure to prepare food, water and other emergency supplies. 

“Before any storm, it’s always good to have bottled water and non-perishable food on hand, as well as emergency supplies,” Slayton said. 

Those emergency supplies include things like flashlights with new batteries, some spare batteries, a first aid kit and medications. 

Also, if you have a generator, test it out days before the storm arrives. Then make sure it’s fueled and properly connected. 

Finally, if you see a downed power line, steer clear. Instead, report it to 1-866-DOM-HELP or 1-866-878-5514 to get a power company to respond.