Thousands without power in North Carolina, Hampton Roads as Hurricane Dorian barrels along the coast

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Dominion Energy says people should expect power outages as Hurricane Dorian makes its way along the coast of North Carolina.

Dominion Energy Media & Community Relations Manager Bonita Billingsley Harris said in some cases, those outages could last for days.

“Hopefully they’ve already gotten their non-perishable food and their batteries and everything they need to be without power for a few days if necessary,” she said. 

“We are expecting significant outages and they may last for a few days. Because the storm is a slow-moving storm, it may stay in the area for a while and based on the length of time we expect it to stay in our area, It might take a while before crews can actually get out.”

The electric company has crews across the region stationed ahead of the storm's arrival. In North Carolina and Virginia, more than 7,000 Dominion Energy employees and contract crew members are ready to support the restoration effort. 

The dangerous conditions Dorian is bringing to the area, present a special challenge to electric crews.

Dominion Energy Manager of Operations and Construction Robert Stinnett says winds around 30 to 40 mph are too dangerous for his crews to dispatch their aerial lifts, and flooding and downed trees can make it hazardous to drive.

“Just being able to walk from point A to point B is a challenge,” he said. “You have multiple different distractions, multiple different opportunities to hurt yourself - debris flying, sand flying, things like that.”

Dominion Energy says to always report an outage.

North Carolina and Virginia customers can report outages by online or calling 1-866-DOM-HELP (1-866-366-4357).

RELATED: Dominion Energy deploys extra crews to Hampton Roads, North Carolina ahead of Dorian

Here's a breakdown of the number of outages by region:

(Click here to view Dominion Energy's  outage map)

11:45 p.m. on Friday

Virginia:

• Chesapeake  542 
• Hampton    0
• Isle of Wight 0
• James City 0
• Newport News 0
• Norfolk    8
• Poquoson City    0
• Portsmouth    0
• Suffolk 0
• Virginia Beach 4,694  
• York 0

North Carolina:

• Currituck    10,330 
• Dare    13,836 
• Hertford 0
• Martin    368 
• Northampton 0
• Pasquotank    661  
• Perquimans  12

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