Raleigh, N.C. —North Carolina’s electric cooperatives urge residents to prepare for potential flooding and high winds that may accompany Tropical Storm Hanna as it moves across the eastern part of the state. Cooperative crews stand ready to restore power should the storm cause outages.

Cooperative officials encourage the public to take the following information into consideration:

• Customers can expect to experience flickering lights as wind speed increases with the storm’s arrival.
• Stay away from downed or low-hanging power lines. Also, beware of lines that may be submerged in flood waters. Assume that any line is conducting electricity; contact with fallen power lines could cause serious injury or even death.
• Restrict children from playing in flooded areas.
• Do not cross flood water. As few as six inches of moving water may cause you to lose control of your vehicle.

Cooperative crews will begin assessing damage immediately following the storm and will begin the restoration process as soon as conditions allow. If necessary, line crews from unaffected areas of the state will help hard-hit co-ops with restoration efforts.

Media inquiries should be directed to the Cooperative Storm Center. Electric cooperative members experiencing power outages should contact their electric cooperative directly. The outage reporting phone numbers for the state’s 26 electric cooperatives and comprehensive storm and electric safety information can be found at www.ncelectriccooperatives.com.

North Carolina’s electric cooperatives serve more than 2.5 million people in 93 of the state’s 100 counties.