UPDATE AT 8:30 P.M. SUNDAY: Danville Utilities and contract crews have restored service to all residential customers. A contract crew is working on an underground transformer vault downtown. That outage has been isolated, which has allowed restoration of service to most businesses downtown.
STORY POSTED EARLIER TODAY:
A band of thunderstorms producing heavy rain pushed across Danville and the surrounding area late Saturday evening and early Sunday morning. These storms resulted in flash flooding in several areas of the city.
The Danville Fire Department has produced the following report:
- During the night, the Danville Fire Department, along with Danville Life Saving Crew and Danville Police, had many calls due to flash flooding. Riverside Drive from Audubon Drive to Arnett Boulevard was closed due to flooding. The Life Saving Crew performed one water rescue with assistance from Danville Fire and the Police Department. Several other people had to be assisted through the water on Riverside Drive. Riverside Drive is open, but muddy. Public Works is working on cleaning the roadway now. Woodall Chevrolet and the NAPA store had damage due to the flooding, with multiple cars damaged and flooding to the buildings.
- Water Street in Danville had significant flooding, with one home that collapsed and significant damage to Mount Carmel Baptist Church. No injuries were reported, but the occupants were rescued by boat by the Fire Department and Life Saving Crew. The Red Cross is assisting the occupants of the home.
- One vehicle was fully submerged and three others were partially submerged on Timberlake Drive and Northmont Boulevard. No rescue was needed and no injuries were reported at this location.
- The Dan River crested overnight at 18 feet and is currently receding. Please continue to check the weather service for more updated information on river levels. The Fire Department would also like to remind people to never drive through flooded roadways and never to try to rescue people without proper equipment. The Fire Department and Life Saving Crew have special teams to rescue people in swift water.
Danville Utilities and contract crews continue working today to restore power to customers who lost service last night during the storm. As of 1:30 p.m., an estimated 300 to 350 customers remain without power.
A transformer downtown on South Union Street has left a portion of downtown without power. Crews are working to isolate the damage. Power in the downtown area is expected to be restored later this afternoon except to the River City Towers Building, formerly known as the Masonic Temple.
The remaining outages are scattered throughout the service territory. Power is expected to be restored for these customers this evening.
All available Danville Utilities line and trees crews are working today. Contract crews are assisting in power restoration.
At the height of the storms last night, more than 2,000 customers were without power. Of this total, about 1,700 customers in neighborhoods located along a portion of Arnett Boulevard and streets east from Arnett Boulevard toward North Main Street lost power when a tree limb fell across power lines on Northmont Boulevard. These customers lost power at 10:36 p.m. Saturday. Their service was restored at 12:56 a.m. Sunday.