Some may be without power until at least Sunday

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Duke Energy says some people may not get power until Sunday due to the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew.

We spoke with Duke Energy President David Fountain today about why it would take that long. He told us that they simply cannot work in some areas because of future flooding with river levels rising, but that 7,000 workers are in the field working where it is safe to make repairs.

“In this case, we’ve got substation work to do, transmitter work to do and distribution line work to do,” Fountain said. “The distribution work being the lines that go down the streets and neighborhoods.”

As of 4pm Monday, Fountain said that they had counted at least 800 power poles down and that number could increase.  He also said that at the time, about 300 thousand people were without power in North Carolina.  At peak, 1.2 million people were without power.

Fountain said that there is a chance many people will get power restored before Sunday and that he understands the frustration.

Bobby Simpson is overseeing the restoration efforts for Duke Energy and echoed the sentiment.

“I understand what folks are feeling,” said Simpson. “Normally our crews are battling the elements as they’re trying to replace poles and transformers and restring circuits. Today the sun was shining as they climbed into their trucks. But they only had to drive a mile or two down the road to be back in the middle of an environmental war zone.”

Here’s a look at power outages around the area (as of 6 p.m. Monday)

Duke Energy
Bladen County: 6,823
Brunswick County: 1,190
Columbus County: 15,275
Pender County: 4,428
New Hanover County: 6,570

Brunswick EMC
Bladen County: 117
Brunswick County: 983
Columbus County: 2,876

Four County EMC
Bladen County: 4,124
Columbus County: 436
Pender County: 1,325