VIRGINIA BEACH, Va., Sept. 20 (UPI) -- Armies of technicians in the mid-Atlantic states are working to restore power to 2.5 million customers still in the dark from Hurricane Isabel.
Power companies said Saturday it would take at least a week to complete the job.
"This will be a marathon, not a sprint," Jimmy Staton, senior vice-president of Dominion Virginia Power, said in a news release.
About 525,000 customers in North Carolina and 1.8 million in Virginia lost power when Isabel swept across the region Thursday night.
A statement from Pepco, which powers some of the Washington, D.C. area, said "unprecedented damage" would take "a week or more before everyone's service is restored." Pepco reported Friday more than a half-million of its customers were without electricity due to the storm.
Those who get their water from the Fairfax County Water Authority in Virginia were told to boil their drinking water for one minute until tests can prove it is suitable for drinking.
As the storm weakened, it moved through Maryland and Pennsylvania and eventually into Canada as a tropical depression, leaving at least 25 dead in seven states, CNN reported.
