January 4, 1990 — While most people around the county were ringing in the New Year, most Luray residents greeted the new decade in the dark — literally.
According to Potomac Edison Area Manager Harry Saufley, power was disrupted to some 1,310 residents and 17 commercial establishments when the power went out at 11:25 p.m. Sunday night. Power was restored to the area at around 1:40 a.m. Monday, Saufley noted.
However, the outage, which was caused by a cracked insulator on the South Court Street power pole also shut down the county’s communication system, affecting all county residents, not just those within the confines of the Luray area.
The communication system was inoperable because the emergency generator at the county jail did not kick in, according to county administrator Ron Wilson, who said there have been problems with the generator for the past few years.
The function of the generator is to provide emergency light to the jail building and to the communications console.
~ From the public archives of the Page News and Courier
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