RICHMOND, Va. -- As Hurricane Joaquin strengthens, Dominion Power wants its customers to prepare by visiting its website, dom.com, as soon as possible.
The power company launched a new map highlighting outages a couple of weeks ago, just in time for the storm.
“We have a new icon map that actually shows where crews are working,” Janell Hancock, a spokesperson, said.
Hancock said crews are getting ready to work long hours in case thousands are left without power, and Dominion is even reaching out to power companies in other states, just in case.
“We could see a lot of trees coming down and pulling down power lines and poles,” Hancock said.
Meanwhile, the City of Richmond and the Virginia Department of Transportation are checking on drains along area roadways to make sure they are not blocked.
A clogged drain and heavy rain turned I-95 through Richmond into a river last year.
Make sure nothing is blocking the culvert in your yard.
Also, VDOT wants people who have culverts on their properties to check them and make sure nothing is blocking them because that can cause water to back up and flood nearby roads.
“I’ve never thought about it, but it’s probably something I should,” Phil Mead, who lives in Chesterfield, said when we asked him about the culvert on his property. “Now with what you’ve done, kinda brought my attention to a lot of things.”
Mead said he is nervous about what could be coming.
“Cuz I don’t know what’s going to come floating down here, and what’s going to back up in the yard and eventually out to the road surface,” Mead said.
Dominion also recommends people make sure they have plenty of supplies on hand to survive without power for several days.
