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Fire chief offers warning to Henrico storm victims

WATCH: Henrico updates storm recovery efforts
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HENRICO COUNTY, Va. -- In an effort to make sure everyone stays safe while cleaning up after Thursday's powerful storm, Henrico safety officials offered a warning to neighbors:  Do not try to cut down your trees or move downed power lines.

The warning comes as more than 8,000 Dominion Virginia Power customers remain without power Monday afternoon.

During a morning press briefing, Henrico Fire Chief Tony McDowell reminded those without power to keep generators outside their homes to not risk carbon monoxide poisoning and asked those without power make sure everything in their homes was powered off to prevent a fire from sparking once electricity returned.

With hundreds of downed trees and power lines, central and western Henrico saw some of the worst damage from Thursday's storms.

"This is a handicapped facility and this will be our fourth day without power. All my food is already spoiled,” Guy Hargrove, a resident at Hollybrook Apartments near Brook Road, said.

Neighbors are taking the outage one day at a time.

"We're all pitching in. He went and bought dinner last night for a bunch of us," resident Rita Scott said.

Dominion officials said residents in Lakeside, Dumbarton, East Highland Park, Tuckahoe and Richmond's Northside will most likely get lights back on Monday night.

For others, the power outage is just one thing to worry about.

"Sounded like a waterfall all night that night, there was so much water pouring in," Henrico resident Nicole Floyd said.

During the storm, a tree snapped and crashed on Floyd's house.

"The entire roof is going to have to be replaced and the flooring is going to be replaced. We can't really go to the back of the house at all," Floyd said.

Power crews said the storm damage was worse than originally thought, and they have had to re-build portions of their power distribution system.

Henrico County officials said if you need special assistance or know someone who does, call the county's non-emergency number at 804-501-5000.

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