Raleigh, N.C. —North Carolina’s electric cooperatives along the coast, including Cape Hatteras Electric Cooperative in Buxton, which was most directly affected by Hurricane Sandy, worked quickly over the weekend and into Monday morning to restore power outages caused by the storm. Most of the electric cooperatives along the coast reported just scattered outages; Cape Hatteras Electric Cooperative, however, did have a circuit go down as a result of flooding, and the cooperative is currently working to restore power to 500 consumers.
Now North Carolina’s electric cooperatives in the western part of the state are on high alert, ready to respond should outages occur as a result of the major wind and snow event predicted in the mountains. In preparation for the severe weather, line crews are double-checking equipment and supplies and fueling their trucks.
When severe weather causes outages, electric cooperative line crews begin working immediately to restore service in a safe and efficient manner. Line crews from unaffected areas are ready to help should the storm in the mountains cause significant and widespread power outages. Some crews from southeastern cooperatives have been pre-staged to assist western cooperatives should the need arise.
Electric cooperative members should make sure they have their electric cooperative’s outage reporting phone number available. 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/storm/outages.htm.
Now is the time to prepare an emergency kit that includes non-perishable food and bottled water, a flashlight, radio, batteries and any other items necessary for getting through a power outage. Remember to NEVER touch a fallen power line; fallen lines can be energized, and touching them could result in serious injury or even death.
North Carolina’s electric cooperatives serve approximately 2.5 million people in 93 of the state’s 100 counties.