Power outages declining in the region

Dominion Power was reporting that by about 1 p.m. Friday, 17,500 customers were without power, down from about 98,000 after severe thunderstorms moved through the area Thursday.

Dominion spokeswoman Le-Ha Anderson said that by 4 p.m. residents would be able to contact the power company's automated line and get an accurate estimate of when power would be restored.

Anderson said about 650 workers were on the ground, including repair crews from North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland and Georgia. She said a few customers may not have powered restored until Sunday.

Pepco officials were reporting that they had about 14,000 customers without power, down from a high of 73,000 following the storm. The bulk of customers were in Prince George's.

David Morehead, a spokesman with Pepco, said most customers should have powered restored by late Friday.