STAFFORD, Va. — Energy teams are preparing for another round of winter storm after days of restoring power to parts of Virginia.
Crews with Dominion Energy just completed restoring power to 290,000 customers, primarily in Central Virginia, after last Saturday's ice storm. It was the most damaging ice storm in the commonwealth in two decades, according to Dominion Energy.
Operation Constructions Supervisor Thomas Manley said some of the members completed the restoration process just last night, but many will have to gear up for the possible impacts of the freezing rain heading into this weekend.
"It's like groundhog day. This week it doesn't look so favorable for us but we're ready to respond," Manley told WUSA9.
More than 5,700 workers and over 600 bucket trucks were dedicated to the effort which included support from Dominion Energy's South Carolina service area.
The winter storm never materialized in northern cities such as Fredericksburg and Stafford where there were no power outages last week.
WUSA9 spoke to several residents in both cities and found many residents who weren't too concerned about the idea of power outages. Power lines in many of the neighborhoods are underground.
"I look for a neighborhood that has power lines underground. I also have generators and I have a generator in my truck so anything happens to my home, I can just wire into my truck," Fredericksburg resident Rodney Warren said.
However, Manley said that could provide a false sense of security.
"I'd be prepared for the worst and make sure you're sustained for a few hours outage time. The lines are fed from an overhead line so if something on the upline device was to be compromised by a tree, then it could take out that underground line being fed from that overhead," Manley explained.
Manley and his team have been so busy that Dominion hasn't been able to provide mutual aid to Texas where the state is experiencing a devastating statewide outage.
RELATED: Winter Weather Advisory: More light sleet, snow, freezing rain & drizzle through Friday morning