Strong storm damages Delaware Electric Cooperative headquarters [video]

Several buildings were damaged at Delaware Electric Cooperative headquarters in Greenwood, as a strong line of storms moving through Delaware Monday night.

The storm knocked out power to about 2,000 homes in southern Delaware Monday night as heavy rain and heavy winds blew through the region. The storm also caused heavy damage to a building used to store electrical equipment at the Co-op headquarters. Two construction trailers were knocked over. Several trees were blown down along with a large fence.

“We are thankful no one was injured during the storm and are lucky the winds struck after normal working hours,” said Co-op President and CEO Bill Andrew. “The area damaged would have been full of workers during the day. If the storm had hit at 4:00 p.m. instead of 6:15 p.m., employees could have been injured or killed. We’d also like to thank members for their patience as we worked to restore power. The damage to our property did not impact our restoration efforts.”

Sussex County was under a tornado warning when the storm hit, but it’s not clear if the damage was actually caused by a tornado or just by strong straight line winds. The National Weather Service is expected to be on site in Sussex County to make that determination.

Despite the damage to their headquarters, power crews worked through the night to restore power to hundreds of customers. Company officials expected power to be restored to all customers by 10 a.m. Tuesday.