It will take a while. That was the answer from all energy suppliers The Herald spoke this morning when asked for an estimated time when the lights would come back on. Tropical Storm Debby knocked down trees and caused creeks and rivers to overflow overnight, making it harder for emergency crews to even get to the problems, let alone fix the power outages.

“Flooded roads and downed trees are making it more difficult and dangerous to access some areas,” Central Virginia Electric Cooperative officials said in a statement. “Crews will be working throughout the day to restore power.”

Therefore, no one can give a time frame for when everything will be repaired, as they still haven’t had access to parts of Buckingham and Prince Edward County to investigate the problem. In Buckingham, for example, Matthews Creek not only overflowed its banks, it also flooded the bridge on Woods Road, causing severe damage. Parts of the bridge itself were washed away.

Cross into Prince Edward County and you’ll find more of the same. Moore Road was still flooded at 8 a.m., as were Route 636 and other routes in the area.

Dominion estimates that most of the work should be completed by this afternoon. Power should be restored to people in the Tuggle area and around Hampden-Sydney College in Prince Edward by noon or 1 p.m. at the latest. Work will take a little longer in Cumberland and Buckingham, as most of the affected areas are very rural and difficult to access.

That’s true at Trent’s Mill, where Dominion officials say it could take until 6 p.m. to finish work there. The same is true at Guinea Mills and Oak Hill Mennonite Church, as well as Sprouse’s Corner and the Dillwyn area. Work there could last until 7 p.m. Friday night or later, as there is still a lot of debris to remove and water damage to be repaired. In Arvonia, people have asked us about their lighting, and Dominion officials say they can’t give an estimate on that problem simply because work crews haven’t been able to get there and assess the damage yet.

Power outages continue to improve

The good news is that work is moving quickly. In Prince Edward, 745 homes were still without power at 8 a.m. By 11 a.m., that number had dropped to 559. In Cumberland, 146 homes are still without power, most of them in the Trent’s Mill area, while in Buckingham, the number has dropped to 110 from 590 at 8 a.m.