Tornadoes that ripped through the Tuscaloosa area Wednesday caused extensive damage to the power grid that may leave customers in the dark for days or even weeks.

As of Thursday morning, an estimated 43,000 customers in the Tuscaloosa area were without power and 300,000 more were in the dark statewide, Alabama Power reported.

The storm ripped down power lines and power poles across the greater Tuscaloosa area, destroying much of the local power grid.

“It’s just like starting over,” said Freddy Padilla, Director of External Affairs for the Western Division of Alabama Power.  “Most of the time, when a major storm comes through, you have a few poles and power lines down. With a storm like this, it’s totally different.”

Although Alabama Power Company is working around the clock to restore power, it could be several days before Tuscaloosa customers’ power is restored.

“It’s hard to say now just how long it will take to restore power,” Padilla said.  “We are still in the process of assessing damages.  Crews are diagnosing the problems and when they figure it out, we will have a much better idea of how long it’s going to take to repair.”

Crews working to repair damages from the strong winds that hit Tuscaloosa area yesterday morning had to pause repairs and seek shelter when the second storm arrived last night.

Although the power outages are still widespread, progress is being made, he said.

“We have restored power to 100,000 customers in Birmingham,” Padilla said.  “The tornado went through very densely populated areas which makes the repair process difficult.  Power has also been restored to many Tuscaloosa customers, but progress is slow because the damage is so extensive.”

Repair crews from other states are on their way to the affected areas to help restore power as quickly as possible.

“We have crews from other states that we call for help in situations like this,” he said.  “Crews are en route from Georgia, Mississippi, and many other states are on their way to help with power line restoration.  However, some of these areas that normally help are dealing with devastation in their own states.”

In spite of the power outages, a few local businesses, including Publix on The Strip, are open today.

“We will be open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. today,” Publix manager  Conor Rafferty said.  “We got hit pretty hard last night but we are still up and running”

Still, since the store is being powered off of a generator, selection is limited to items that don’t require refrigeration.

“We don’t have any perishables available but we have a good supply of dry goods that are available.”

Alabama Power is asking its customers to take precautions when dealing with downed power lines.

“We have had people try to remove power lines from cars and houses but we strongly discourage them from doing this,” Padilla said.

Students with downed power lines or other concerns should contact local law enforcement or Alabama Power’s hotline at 800-888-2726.

A few University buildings currently have minimal power.  Reese Phifer Hall, Blount Undergraduate Initiative Living-Learning Center, and the University Recreation Center are currently running off of generators.