MAYS LANDING, N.J. - Friday night's violent windstorm that ripped through the Mid-Atlantic region has caused a significant amount of damage to the Atlantic City Electric system, leaving more than 206,000 customers without power early this morning.

Winds in excess of 70 miles per hour uprooted trees and blew down limbs, which brought down numerous power lines and broke crossarms and poles.  

Due to the widespread damage and the large number of outages, the power restoration effort is expected to take several days.  Critical customers who need electricity for life support equipment are advised to seek shelter where power is available.  The weather forecast for the area calls for the possibility of more thunderstorms today, which could cause additional outages. 

Atlantic City Electric will work to restore power by targeting critical electric facilities- such as substations and large power lines serving the largest number of customers¬-and critical facilities, such as hospitals, fire stations, water filtration plants and police stations.

"The storm caused significant damage, with many trees down. Crews were deployed and are assessing the damage," said Vince Maione, Atlantic City Region President. "With many powers lines down, we urge our customers to be safe and stay away from all downed power lines. We'll work around the clock until every customer is restored."

After a severe storm such as this, assessing damage and estimating when customers will be restored could take more than 24 hours after the storm has passed.

The utility is calling for crews from other utilities to assist with restoring service.  However, the large magnitude of the storm has left utilities with millions of customers without electric service from the Midwest through the Mid-Atlantic regions.  It is likely that crews who are able to assist will have to travel days to arrive.  

All Atlantic City Electric employees have a second role during emergencies and will participate in the restoration effort.

Atlantic City Electric will restore power by targeting wires serving critical infrastructure, such as hospitals, fire stations, water filtration plants and police stations, as well as those serving the largest number of customers. 

The safety of our customers and crews is paramount. Customers are urged to avoid working crews and to stay away from all downed wires, even if they don't appear to be energized. 

Customers are urged to report outages by calling 1-800-833-7476. Customers can also receive outage updates by visiting www.atlanticcityelectric.com, following us on Facebook and Twitter at ACElecConnect and downloading our mobile app at www.atlanticcityelectric.com/mobileapp.