Last Updated on November 20, 2019 6:12 pm
Lenoir, North Carolina (June 10, 2019—4 PM UPDATE) – Blue Ridge Energy line technicians and assisting crews have restored all but one member with power from this weekend’s heavy rain and flooding that affected 5,556 members.
The one remaining member without power is on Hwy 90 West in Caldwell County’s Edgemont community, the hardest hit area of flooding. Crews will continue restoration work for the final member once water levels subside and the road is passable.
Extremely high rain levels caused flooding over the weekend, which led to trees falling into power lines, breaking poles and damaging the electric system in 84 different locations of the cooperative’s service area. Although line crews used ATVs to reach some areas of damage, washed out roads and flooding made some areas totally inaccessible and hampered restoration.
Blue Ridge Energy crews were assisted by contractor crews from Pike Electric and Asplundh Tree Expert Company.
The following is a breakdown of the impact:
- Caldwell District: 1,229 members were impacted by 34 damaged locations
- Watauga District: 1,353 members were affected by 20 damaged locations
- Ashe District: 2,939 members lost power from 25 damaged locations
- Alleghany District: 35 members were impacted from 5 damaged locations.
Members should always report outages by calling 1-800-448-2383 or by using the Blue Ridge Energy mobile app. Outage updates are available any time on the cooperative’s live outage map at www.BlueRidgeEnergy.com and on the mobile app.
