NORFOLK, Va. — Tropical Depression Debby has battered parts of the southeastern U.S. With the storm set to affect us here in Virginia and North Carolina Thursday and Friday.
Dominion Energy has a variety of storm crews getting ready to respond, as needed. Azaria Hockstedler is one of the many storm patrollers the company uses when calls for repairs come in.
"I assess the damage ahead of the line workers, determining any material needs, tree crew needs, anything of that nature to help save time when it comes time to working the job," Hockstedler said.
She knows her role is crucial in not only getting the proper supplies to crews. But also making sure the lights can get back on quicker.
"We really do truly save the crew's time ... we're at least eyes on the ground for you all to help," she said.
This isn’t her normal day job, but when Dominion Energy goes into storm mode, it’s all hands on deck. Knowing the job can take her anywhere she packs for any and every situation.
"I could get an assignment in the next hour or maybe tomorrow morning where they say, 'Hey, we have a need for you out in Alexandria or South Boston or Outer Banks,' We will go out there." Hockstedler said.
As, Debby brings in heavy rain, potential flooding and high winds to Hampton Roads and northeast North Carolina, Azaria and her crew are trying and make sure the power gets back on if it goes out.
“If I'm able to come out and address that, there is a need and determine what we need to do to fix it, I will do so and I'll spend however many days is needed to get the job done,” Hockstedler said.
Dominion Energy customers can report outages or check the status of the repairs using the outage map in the Dominion Energy app or thier website.