NEWARK, Del. -- Friday night's violent windstorm that ripped through the Delmarva Peninsula area has caused a significant amount of damage to the Delmarva Power electric system, leaving 84,000 customers without power early this morning.

Winds in excess of 70 miles per hour uprooted trees and blew down limbs, which brought down numerous power lines and broke crossarms and poles.  

Due to the widespread damage and the large number of outages, the power restoration effort is expected to last through the weekend. Critical customers who need electricity for life support equipment are advised to seek shelter where power is available.  The weather forecast for the area calls for possibly more thunderstorms today, which could cause additional outages. 

"There is a tremendous amount of tree damage and wires down," said Gary Stockbridge, President, Delmarva Power Region. "We urge customers to report wires down and, most importantly, stay away from trees and tree limbs that have made contact with wires."

After a severe storm such as this, assessing damage and estimating when customers will be restored could take more than 24 hours after the storm has passed. All Delmarva Power employees have a second role during emergencies and will participate in the restoration effort.

Delmarva Power crews will restore power by targeting wires serving critical infrastructure, such as hospitals, fire stations, water filtration plants and police stations, as well as those serving the largest number of customers. 

If you experience an outage or see a downed or damaged power line, call Delmarva Power:

• Delaware: New Castle County: 1-800-898-8042; Kent and Sussex counties: 1-800-898-8045
• Maryland: Cecil and Harford counties: 1-800-898-8042; Eastern Shore: 1-800-898-8045

To report a Delmarva natural gas emergency in New Castle County, Del.: 302-454-0317


Delmarva Power, a public utility owned by Pepco Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: POM), provides safe and reliable energy to more than 500,000 electric delivery customers in Delaware and Maryland and over 122,000 natural gas delivery customers in northern Delaware.