Last Updated on September 27, 2024 7:57 am
Lenoir, North Carolina (7:30 am—September 27, 2024) – Blue Ridge Energy line technicians are battling the worst conditions of the storm so far Friday morning as saturated grounds, high winds and falling trees are causing outage numbers to climb quickly past 13,000 currently without power as of 7:30 am Friday.
Crews worked Thursday and throughout the night restoring power due to the storm but conditions are worsening and are expected to continue to do so throughout Friday morning. Much of the cooperative’s power lines and poles are torn down by falling trees, with line technicians having to cut their way into many outage locations where the electric system is most damaged.
All Blue Ridge Energy staff and line crews are working Friday to restore power as quickly and safely as possible and will continue to do so until all power is restored.
The cooperative warns the public to stay far away from downed power lines as they can still be energized and therefore dangerous and even deadly! Only a trained line technician should ever go near a downed power line.
While Blue Ridge Energy is aware of outages and system operators are monitoring conditions, members can report outages by calling PowerLine at 1-800-448-2383, by using the Blue Ridge Energy mobile app, or, text OUT to 70216. Outage status is available 24/7 on the cooperative’s live outage map at www.BlueRidgeEnergy.com and on the mobile app.
Blue Ridge Energy serves some 80,000 members in Caldwell, Watauga, Ashe, and Alleghany counties as well as parts of Avery, Alexander and Wilkes counties. Learn more at www.BlueRidgeEnergy.com or on the cooperative’s social media on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
