Responding to Hurricane Michael


Oct. 15, 5:00 p.m. – All our outages from Hurricane Michael have been restored! Thank you for all your kindness and patience over these past few days. Together, we are co-op strong!
If you are still experiencing an outage, please call us at 800.222.3107.
Outage map - no outages 10.15.2018
Photo caption: A clear outage map is a beautiful sight after the damage Hurricane Michael brought through our territory. This screenshot was taken at 5:00 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 15, 2018.

Oct. 14, 6:30 p.m. – We have sustained extensive damage throughout our service territory following Thursday’s weather event; here is just a glimpse at some of the damage sustained from Hurricane Michael throughout our service territory.

Lewis Tree Serice clearing trees off lines

Lewis Tree Serice clearing trees off lines Lewis Tree Serice clearing trees off lines

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

  • Top) Scott Road in Semora, NC
  • (Middle) Mann Oakley Road in Rougemont, NC
  • (Bottom) A large tree fell onto a power line in the Surl-Mt.Tirzah area.
Oct. 14, 2:10 p.m. – As of 2:10 p.m., all our circuits are back online. There is still an open breaker on the Highway 54 circuit which is keeping a large amount of members off. Everything north of the highway is fed by several different sections of line that cut across country with no direct roads to access them. We are currently working on this section and still anticipate getting most of this on today. The areas impacted by this specific outage include (but at not limited to) Hickory Grove Road, Pickards Meadow, Tupelo Ridge and Glenmorgan.
We have almost all outages near Mebane and in Caswell County restored.
We hope to have the majority of the remaining members on by tonight and everyone on by the end of the day on Monday.

Oct. 14, 12:00 p.m. – Video update from Steve Hamlin, Piedmont Electric President and CEO

Additionally, we have seven crews working around Carrboro. We hope to have the circuits repaired sometime this afternoon. As we reenergize individual circuits, parts of the circuit may not receive power as a result of additional damage to the system. This is why you may be without power when neighbors or nearby roads have been restored.
Thank you for your continued patience as we work as safely and quickly as possible to restore all power.
Oct. 14, 10:30 a.m. – We have restored over 21,000 of the 24,000 members who were without power.
This morning we continue to work to restore power to the remaining 2,800 without power. We have staff working around the clock and we will continue to work until everyone has power back on. We hope to have a majority of the outages restored today and to have everyone back on by the end of the day Monday.
Progress at this point in the restoration process can be slow as most of the damage left to repair is local and may only impact a few members at a time.
We continue to have all of our crews working on restoring power as well as help from contract crews and crews from other cooperatives.
Outage restoration photos 10.14.2018 Power restoration 10.14.2018

Oct. 14, 8:00 a.m. – We still have several circuits out on the Westbrook substation: Damascus Church, Jones Ferry SW and Hwy 54 W. Crews are currently working in these areas. Across the rest of our system, we are working on more localized, scattered outages.
We are hoping to have more than half of the remaining members on by tonight and everyone on by the end of the day on Monday.
For information about specific outages, please view our online outage map.
Thank you for your patience as we work as quickly and safely as possible to restore all power.

Oct. 13, 8:00 p.m. – As of 8:00 pm on Saturday, we have located numerous downed trees which have hit power lines, knocking out power. At this time, we have 3,561 members without power.
With the sun having set, repair work will slow down significantly as the dark can create serious hazards and unsafe conditions. We will have staff working through the night, but many of our crews will be sent home to rest. Sleep is vital for our crews not only because it is dangerous for them to work while exhausted, but there are also regulations on how many hours linemen can work between periods of rest.
Restoration efforts will pick back up at sunrise Sunday morning and our crews will continue to work to restore power until everyone is back on. Members who are currently out should prepare for an additional 1-2 days without power.
Crews continue to work on repairing individual circuits which come out of our substations and bring power to individual homes and businesses. As we reenergize individual circuits, parts of the circuit may not receive power as a result of additional damage to the system. This is why you may be without power when neighbors or nearby roads have been restored.
We apologize for the inconvenience and we appreciate everyone’s patience. Thank you.

Crews restoring outages. Crews restoring outages.

Oct. 13, 3:15 p.m. – Our crews continue to work as safely and quickly as possible to restore power. Here are a few pictures of the restoration efforts all across our service territory.
Crews restoring power. Crews restoring power.
 
 
 
 
 
 


Oct. 13, 12:35 p.m. – Video update from Steve Hamlin, Piedmont Electric President and CEO

As of noon on Saturday, we still have about 7,400 members without power. We hope to have a majority of the outages resolved before sundown, but will have members out potentially for 1-2 more days.
If your power is out, please let us know, using one of the methods below, as this can help us identify localized damage that may be impacting only your service or you and a few others. Even if you have previously reported your outage, this can provide us with additional useful information.
We are working as quickly as we can to restore power and will continue to do so until all power has been restored. In addition to our own staff, we continue to receive additional crews from other co-ops and contractors who are working with us to restore power.
Again, we apologize for the inconvenience and we thank everyone for their patience
 
Oct. 13, 10:30 a.m. – We continue to work on several circuits across our system. We have received additional crews from other co-ops who will help with restoring power. We hope to have a majority of the outage resolved before sundown, but will have members out potentially for 1-2 more days.
If your power is out, please let us know as this can help us identify localized damage that may be impacting only your service or you and a few others.
Again, we apologize for the inconvenience and we thank everyone for their patience.
Oct. 13, 7:45 a.m. – While we did have staff working on restoring power throughout Friday night, with the sun now up, our repair efforts can resume in full force. At this time, we anticipate all power will be restored within 1-2 days.
We continue to work at the circuit level this morning. These are the wires that come out of our substations to supply power to the surrounding community. Fixing these issues will restore power to the greatest number of people in the shortest amount of time.
As we reenergize individual circuits, parts of the circuit may not receive power as a result of additional damage to the system. This is why you may be without power when neighbors or nearby roads have been restored.

Oct. 12, 11:00 p.m. – Social media and website updates will continue in the morning. Thank you for your patience and please stay safe.

Oct. 12, 8:25 p.m. – As of 8:25 p.m. on Friday, we have located numerous downed trees which have hit power lines, knocking out power.

With the sun having set, repair work will slow down significantly as the dark can create serious hazards and unsafe conditions. We will have staff working through the night, but many of our crews will be sent home to rest. Sleep is vital for our crews not only because it is dangerous for them to work while exhausted, but there are also regulations on how many hours linemen can work between periods of rest.

Restoration efforts will pick back up at sunrise Saturday morning and our crews will continue to work to restore power until everyone is back on. Members who are currently out should prepare for up to an additional 1-3 days without power.

Crews continue to work on repairing individual circuits which come out of our substations and bring power to individual homes and businesses. As we reenergize individual circuits, parts of the circuit may not receive power as a result of additional damage to the system. This is why you may be without power when neighbors or nearby roads have been restored.

We apologize for the inconvenience and we appreciate everyone’s patience.

 
Oct. 12, 2018 – 5:35 p.m. –  All transmission issues have been resolved and the substations have been energized. We are now working at the circuit level. As we energize a circuit, parts of the circuit may come back on while others parts might not. This is likely because of additional damage to the system. This is why your neighbor might have power while you do not yet.

E. Willardsville circuit (Durham) and Joppa Oaks circuits (Orange) have been restored.
We are still estimating 1-3 days for outages. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we continue to work as quickly and safely as possible to restore all outages.

 
Oct. 12, 5:25 p.m. –
Video update from Lineman Jonathan Jacobs at an outage site on Orange Grove Road. A large tree fell on these lines during the storm. Our linemen will continue working as quickly and safely as possible until all outages are restored.

Oct. 12, 2:30 p.m. –
Video update from Steve Hamlin, Piedmont Electric President and CEO

We have located numerous downed trees which have hit power lines, knocking out power.
Crews have completed repairs to the transmission lines which bring electricity from power plants to our substations. We are now working on repairing individual circuits which come out of the substations and bring power to individual homes and businesses. We hope to make significant progress today but cannot provide individual restoration times. We hope to have all power restored within 1-3 days.
We apologize for the inconvenience and we appreciate everyone’s patience.
Oct. 12, 11:10 a.m. – Our crews have found two broken insulators and lines that are on the ground but not snapped on the Eno South transmission line which impacts all of the area south of Hillsborough. They are working to fix these issues. Once these issues are resolved, there may be additional problems for this area. In addition to our crews, we have crews from Pike, Lewis and River City and Illinois co-ops, Clay Electric, Egyptian and Menard, helping us restore power. We are so thankful for their help! We hope to have power restored between 1.5-3 days. Thank you for your patience!
Oct 12, 8:00 am – Our crews continue their work early this morning as we try to quickly and safely address the power outages caused by Hurricane Michael.
Currently, we are working on several transmission line issues. Transmission line problems typically affect the most number of people and are where we start when restoring power after a major storm like Hurricane Michael.
Transmission lines are the large tower like structures which carry high voltage electricity from a power plant to our substations where the voltage is lowered and sent to individual homes and businesses.
We do not have restoration times for specific outages and we anticipate that some could last several days. Please know that we will continue to work as quickly and safely as we can until all power is restored.
October 11, 2018 – 10:10 p.m. – Hurricane Michael has hit our service territory and we have sustained extensive damage. We currently have more than 70% of our members without power. A full assessment of damage will not happen until daylight hours. We will have better power restoration estimates once the damage has been fully assessed. In addition, more crews will be arriving in the morning to assist with power restoration efforts. Social media and website updates will resume in the morning.
We hope to have power restored in our area anywhere from 2-4 days, in some locations it could be shorter. We suggest that if you are not prepared to stay in your home without power that you make arrangements. Please report any downed power lines or emergencies to 911 and if you have not reported your outage, please call 800.222.3107. We apologize for any inconvenience that these outages may have caused and we thank you for your patience and please be safe.

Outage reporting and safety information: https://pemc.coop/membership/automated-outage-reporting/
Outage viewer screenshot taken at 10:15 on October 11, 2018

Photo caption: Screenshot of Piedmont Electric live outage map at 10:15 p.m. on Thursday, October 11, 2018.
 
October 11, 2018 – 7:50 p.m. – The are no open shelters that we know of at this time. We will update this page if we are made aware of the opening of any shelters in our counties. For more information about shelters, contact your local emergency center.

For Alamance County Red Cross, call 336.290.0362

For Central North Carolina Chapter, call 919.489.2611
For Person County Branch, call 336-597-2927

The Red Cross may be able to assist for other counties as well.
October 11, 2018 – 7:03 p.m. –
Piedmont Electric currently has almost 70% of our members without power. We are assessing damage where we can, but the storm has not left our area yet and is not forecasted to be out of our area until 9:00 p.m. This makes it difficult to give any restoration times to our members at this time. We hope to have power restored in our area anywhere from 2-4 days, in some locations it could be shorter.
During a major outage, our main goal is to restore power to the greatest number of members in the shortest time possible. Please note that we will follow all precautions to ensure that our restoration teams and the public are safe. Our calling center is staffed and we have outside crews coming to assist with power restoration.
If you are calling to report an outage over the phone and getting a busy signal there are other ways to report your outage. If you have signed up for text outage notifications, please text #OUT to 800.222.3107 or report your outage through your SmartHub app. Please report any downed power lines to 911 and 800.222.3107. Please conserve the battery in your phones to make emergency calls. We apologize for any inconvenience that the outages caused by Hurricane Michael has brought upon our area. We will continue to keep you updated on our progress on our social media sites. Thank you!
October 11, 2018 – 6:05 p.m. – We currently have 20,340 members without power due to Hurricane Michael. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we work as safely and quickly as possible to restore power.
October 11, 2018 – 4:55 p.m. – Due to extreme weather conditions, we are experiencing widespread outages throughout our service territory. This weather is expected to continue throughout the evening. Please stay safe and be sure to report any outages. https://pemc.coop/membership/automated-outage-reporting/
October 11, 2018 – 4:40 p.m. – We are aware of the outages in the Carrboro area. Thank you for your patience!
October 11, 2018 – 4:30 p.m. – We are aware of the outages in Northeastern Alamance County and Southeastern Caswell County. Our crews will work as safely and quickly as possible to restore power as long as conditions are safe. Thank you for your patience!
October 11, 2018 – 8:30 a.m. – Piedmont Electric is closely monitoring the storm and is prepared to respond at a moment’s notice. We encourage our members to be prepared and informed as well. You can stay up to date with co-op news on our website, Facebook and Twitter pages. Thank you for being members of Piedmont Electric and please be safe.

  • National Weather Service updates here.
  • Outage Reporting Number: 800.222.3107
  • Live Outage Map
  • Are you prepared?
    • Outage resource page here.
    • Create an emergency preparedness kit, learn more here.
    • Monitor the weather here.
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