Duke Energy: power restored to more than one million customers | Home page

(FOX Carolina) – Tropical depression Florence eliminated power in the Carolinas, but a utility provider said it was able to restore power to many customers affected by blackouts.

Duke Energy reports that more than one million customers saw their diet restored at 5pm Saturday, out of an estimated 1.4 million total blackouts in North Carolina and South Carolina.

As of 4:00 pm Sunday, the utility provider said that nearly 404,000 customers still did not have access to electricity and that more breakdowns were to be expected.

Among customers still without electricity, 381,000 are in North Carolina and 23,000 in South Carolina.

Earlier, the incident commander, Howard Fowler, said the crews were making significant progress in the wake of Florence.

"Over the past 24 hours, our teams have made significant progress in restoring energy in the Caroline region where it is safe to do so," said Fowler. "However, we have unfortunately been unable to repair some of the most affected coastal areas because of the high winds and flood-related access problems."

According to Fowler, more than 20,000 people are spread across 39 sites in the Carolinas.

However, crews are hampered by severe flooding, road closures, wind gusts and storm debris in coastal areas and other parts of the Carolinas. Some areas in cities such as Wilmington and New Bern, Nc, are inaccessible due to widespread flooding.

In 12 of North Carolina's most affected counties, more than 75 percent of Duke's customers have lost power. These counties include Beaufort, Bladen, Brunswick, Carteret, Columbus, Duplin, Jones, New Hanover, Onslow, Pender, Pitt and Robeson.

Duke Energy customers may report faults on this site. Customers of Duke Energy Carolinas can also call by calling (800) 769-3766, while Duke Energy Progress customers should call (800) 419-6356.

For the latest trouble numbers, you can visit this website.

Duke Energy also reminds customers to practice security measures against the following storms:

• Stay clear of fallen power lines and sagging. Keep children, animals and others away from power lines.

• Consider all power lines – as well as trees, branches and anything that is in contact with power lines – live and dangerous.

• Be very careful when crossing damaged or flooded areas. Live power lines could be hidden by debris and stagnant water.

In addition, Duke Energy also monitors lake levels at this link and can be listened to by calling (800) 829-5253 for customers of Duke Energy Carolinas or (800) 899-4435 for customers of Duke Energy Progress.