Thousands still without power around region

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Nearly 25,000 customers were still without power around southeastern North Carolina Tuesday morning, and it could still be days until the lights are back on for many of them.

Duke Energy said yesterday it hopes to have all customers back online by Sunday. Duke and the other power companies in our area, including Brunswick EMC and Four County EMC, have hundreds of workers dealing with a host of challenges, including the continued flooding around the region.

“Restoration is going well considering the amount of damage from down trees, lines, road conditions and flooding,” Four County EMC spokeswoman Gay Johnson told WWAY in an e-mail this morning. “Our crews continue to work to make repairs through areas of flooding, washed out roads, inaccessible restoration points and fallen trees. We will continue to monitor conditions as floodwaters from cresting rivers could create additional problems in some areas. At this time we do not have an estimated time of restoration for all members.”

Brunswick EMC is reporting 99 percent of customers are back online. Most of its continued outages are in western Columbus County, where flooding has been severe. The utility’s goal is to have all power restored within 24 hours despite the challenges.

“Even with flooding and road closures, our focus is the inaccessible access points in Columbus County where power remains out for about 1,800 members,” BEMC spokeswoman Heather Holbrook told WWAY via e-mail. “Using our boats and working around the clock, all hands are on deck as BEMC crews are joined by additional line crews from other NC co-ops – Union Electric in Monroe and Blue Ridge Electric in Lenoir – we won’t quit ‘til we get it done.”

Here are the latest outage numbers (as of 12:30 p.m. Tuesday):

Duke Energy
Bladen County: 5,788
Brunswick County: 329
Columbus County: 9,857
New Hanover County: 1,279
Pender County: 1,347

Brunswick EMC
Bladen County: 10
Brunswick County: 6
Columbus County: 1,189

Four County EMC
Bladen County: 2,163
Columbus County: 141
Pender County: 445