CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Tropical Storm Zeta's powerful winds raced through North Carolina and South Carolina today, cutting power to more than 500,000 Duke Energy customers at the height of the storm ? more than 10 percent of the company's total customers in the two-state region.
More than 2,600 of Duke Energy's Carolinas-based repair workers began what is expected to be a multi-day power restoration process.
Duke Energy also is moving to the Carolinas more than 650 of its Midwest- and Florida-based repair workers to assist. In addition, the company has requested supplemental repair crews from other electric utility companies through the Southeastern Electric Exchange.
As of 5 p.m., 369,000 customers ? 264,000 in North Carolina and 105,000 in South Carolina ? remained without power.
Duke Energy will provide estimated power restoration times for specific counties ? once those estimates have been determined ? at duke-energy.com/outages/current-outages.
Customers who are registered for Duke Energy text alerts will receive a text once an estimated restoration time is established for their location. (Sign up to receive outage alerts.)
In addition to making repairs, Duke Energy crews are surveying the extent of damage to utility poles and power lines. Damage assessment is an important part of the power restoration process as it helps determine where the company will deploy its workers, equipment and other resources.
"I want to thank our customers for their patience and understanding as our crews work to safely restore power as quickly as possible, while also adhering to COVID-related safe work practices," said Jason Hollifield, Duke Energy's Carolinas incident commander. "We know this is a particularly difficult time for our customers to lose power, as many are working from home and attending school remotely due to the pandemic."
Hardest hit counties
North Carolina's hardest hit counties include: Catawba, Chatham, Cleveland, Davidson, Davie, Forsyth, Gaston, Graham, Guilford, Henderson, Iredell, Lincoln, Macon, McDowell, Mecklenburg, Polk, Randolph, Rockingham, Rowan, Rutherford, Stokes, Swain, Transylvania, Vance and Yadkin.
South Carolina's hardest hit counties include: Anderson, Cherokee, Chesterfield, Greenville, Oconee, Pickens, Spartanburg and York.
Power restoration process
Duke Energy focuses on restoring power in a sequence that enables power restoration to public health and safety facilities and to the greatest number of customers as safely and quickly as possible. Click here for information on how Duke Energy restores power.
How to report power outages
Customers who experience a power outage can report using any of the following methods:
How to protect refrigerated food during power outages
For customers who lose power and have full refrigerators and freezers, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends the following:
The FDA offers additional tips for proper food handling and storage before, during and after a power outage at www.fda.gov/food/buy-store-serve-safe-food/food-and-water-safety-during-power-outages-and-floods.
Important safety tips
Duke Energy encourages customers to have a plan in place if they experience a power outage. Below are tips to help you and your family stay safe.
More tips on what to do before, during and after a storm can be found at duke-energy.com/safety-and-preparedness/storm-safety. A checklist serves as a helpful guide, but it's critical before, during and after a storm to follow the instructions and warnings of emergency management officials in your area.
Duke Energy
Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of the largest energy holding companies in the U.S. It employs 29,000 people and has an electric generating capacity of 51,000 megawatts through its regulated utilities and 2,300 megawatts through its nonregulated Duke Energy Renewables unit.
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SOURCE Duke Energy
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