Piedmont Electric Restoring Power as High Wind Gusts Continue until 10 PM
Hillsborough, NC (March 2, 2018: 5:00 p.m.) – Piedmont Electric line crews worked safely and swiftly throughout the day to restore outages caused by high wind gusts across Alamance, Caswell, Durham, Granville, Orange and Person counties.
Frequent high wind gusts of 30 to 45 miles per hour resulted in downed trees, tree branches and power lines across Piedmont Electric service territory.
The first outage was reported at 4:00 a.m. on Friday, March 2. At the height of the outages at 12:57 p.m., 2,931 Piedmont Electric members were without power. The largest outage affected over 2,000 members in Orange county.
Piedmont Electric is restoring scattered outages that is resulting from this weather event and will work until all outages are restored. If you experience a power outage, please report the outage to 800.222.3107.
The National Weather Service at noaa.gov is reporting sustained winds gusts of 35 to 45 mph will continue until 10:00 p.m. tonight. Isolated wind gusts of up to 60 mph are possible.
Remember to stay away from downed power lines or fallen trees and branches that may be near power lines. Do not attempt to move downed lines under any circumstance and if a power line falls on your vehicle, remain in your vehicle until help arrives. Remember to always avoid downed power lines as they may still carry an electric current strong enough to cause serious injury or death. Report any damage to Piedmont Electric and/or law enforcement in the event of an emergency.
Piedmont Electric is a local, member-owned, not-for-profit electric cooperative serving more than 31,000 electric accounts in Alamance, Caswell, Durham, Granville, Orange and Person counties. Piedmont Electric exists to serve our members and improve the quality of life in our communities through local employment, economic development, business engagement, youth education, grants to educators, advocacy for energy issues, community involvement and emergency preparedness support. Visit www.pemc.coop for more information.
###
