Cumberland Volunteer Fire Department reported in a social media post that the department responded to more than 20 calls Thursday from 4-11 p.m., including two calls that involved trees that fell into homes. The department reported there were no injuries from those calls.

“Remember that the ground is very wet and there is potential for trees to fall without warning,” officials said in the post. “Currently over 2,000 residents are without power. Due to wide spread outage it may take a few days before everyone’s power is restored.”

Officials said they send condolences to Hanover County Fire-EMS as one of their members passed away Thursday after being hit while operating at an accident scene.

Prince Edward County made the following announcement that the majority of the county is experiencing power loss and depending on the location, restoration could take several days.

County Public Information Officer Kate Pickett Eggleston said crew are at work to clear damage and repair electrical poles, encouraging residents to stay home if possible.

“Please call 911 to notify the Town and County of downed lines or trees,” Eggleston said.

For those who need water or stations to charge electrical devices, Eggleston said the following volunteer fire departments will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday: Darlington Heights (2673 Darlington Heights Road, Pamplin) and Meherrin (102 Moores Ordinary Road, Meherrin).

Farmville (100 W. Third Street, Farmville), Pamplin (2394 Pamplin Road, Pamplin), Hampden-Sydney
(182 South Boundary Road, Hampden-Sydney) and Rice (948 Rice’s Depot Road, Rice) Volunteer Fire
Departments will be open from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday for use of outdoor water faucets
only.

Prospect (45 Campbell Hill Road, Prospect) Volunteer Fire Department will be open today until
7 p.m. for water and charging and open 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday for water only.

Outdoor water faucets for public use are available at the following locations: South Main and Graham Street, North Main Street and the “Welcome to Farmville” sign; East Third Street at Persimmon Tree; and the “Welcome to Farmville” sign.

“The Southside Virginia YMCA (580 Commerce Road, Farmville) will be open for all residents to utilize
showers and running water (membership not required). Their hours are Friday until 8 p.m.,, Saturday 7 a.m.-
5 p.m., and Sunday 1-5 p.m.”

“If flooding should occur, do not walk, swim or drive through flood waters,” Eggleston said. “Turn around; don’t drown! Six inches of fast-moving water can knock a person down and one foot can sweep a vehicle away. Stay off
bridges over fast-moving water. Do now allow children to play near flood water. Avoid all contact with
flood water, as it may be contaminated.”

Residents are encouraged to keep generators outside of their homes and garages at approximately 20 feet from one’s home at all times and should be kept dry. This is to not only protect households from fire or electrocution, but also carbon monoxide poisoning.

Piedmont Senior Resources has reported that meal delivery routes for Amelia and Cumberland are set to take place on Monday, Oct. 15 and Tuesday, Oct. 16 respectively.

Amelia’s delivery will be Monday, and Cumberland’s on Tuesday, making up the missed meals from Friday, Oct. 12, the report cited. Direct questions about the delivery to Jordan Miles at 434-767-5588 or jmiles@psraaa.org.

The National Weather Service in Wakefield reported that at 9:57 a.m. Friday the flood warning has been cancelled for the Appomattox River area affecting Farmville, Prince Edward and Cumberland, and the James River affecting Buckingham County.

View photos of Tropical Storm Michael here.

Southside Electric Cooperative reported in a release that at its peak, more than 40,000 customers were impacted by the tropical storm. As of 9 a.m. Friday, approximately 31,000 are without power, making it the company’s most significant outage amount since Hurricane Irene in 2011, which had 26,000 outages. service area experienced more than 40,000 that approximately 27,000 people are without power in its service area. Officials cited that company cannot offer restoration estimates for some of the outages until damage has been assessed.

Dominion Energy Virginia is responding to a total of more than 500,000 outages in the state, citing in a social media update that Southeastern Virginia, Central Virginia, Gloucester/Northern Neck, and Southside Virginia are among the hardest hit.

Farmville Town Mayor David Whitus reported that all main roads in Farmville are open as of Friday morning and that work continues to be underway to restore power in parts of the town and get trees up in residential areas.

The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) has cited that approximately a dozen roads are closed in Buckingham County as of Friday. A portion of U.S. Route 60 East is closed due to a downed tree. Sections of U.S. Route 15 North and South, as well as VA 20 are passable with care. Route 653 is washed out.

Prince Edward County is also seeing approximately 12 roads closed with washouts on Routes 612 and 624. Cumberland is cited as having a part of Route 600 washed out while another section, along with ten other roads are closed due to flooding or debris.

See the most recent updates on road conditions in the region here.

The Heart of Virginia is reeling from the effects of Tropical Storm Michael, that blasted torrential rain and high winds, created power outages that are currently affecting thousands, downed trees along main roads and flooded roads, homes and businesses.

A flood warning remains in effect for the region until Sunday, Oct. 14.

Farmville Town Mayor David Whitus announced a Code Red status in the town Thursday evening, asking that no motorists enter the town and cautioning people to avoid travel.

Cumberland County government offices and buildings are closed Friday.

All public schools in the region, including Prince Edward County Public Schools, Cumberland County Public Schools, Buckingham County Public Schools and Longwood University are closed Friday.

Fuqua School has closed Friday with the status of its Homecoming activities determined by noon.

 

This is a developing report. Stay with the Herald for updates throughout the day.