Thousands Of N.C. Residents May Spend Weekend Without Power

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Thousands Of N.C. Residents May Spend Weekend Without Power Outages May Increase Across N.C. As Icy Tree Limbs Fall On Power Lines

POSTED: 6:05 a.m. EST December 6, 2002 UPDATED: 6:35 p.m. EST December 6, 2002

RALEIGH, N.C. -- North Carolina residents could be spending the weekend looking for ways to keep warm. Thousands of residents still do not have power after the state's first blast of winter weather. Some companies claim residents may not get power restored until possibly early next week.

Easley Power Crews Many residents of North Carolina may face the "cold," harsh fact that they could be spending the entire weekend without power. As a result, Gov. Mike Easley has activated the National Guard to assist victims of the winter storm.

Gov. Mike Easley surveyed the damage Friday caused by the recent ice storm and activated the North Carolina National Guard to assist residents in the worst hit areas where power will not be restored for several days or more.

"Guardsmen will literally be going door-to-door to check on people in need, advising them of the latest information, and making sure that they are aware that shelters are available if they need them," said Easley. "The National Guard will be working with local police, fire and rescue in this effort, and will be available to local governments that request their assistance."

As of Friday afternoon, CP&L reported 343,000 outages across North Carolina. Officials said crews hope to have power restored in metropolitian areas of the state first before moving to the rural areas.

CP&L 's worst natural disaster was Hurricane Fran in 1996, which knocked out power to 791,000 customers.

Duke Power reported 98,000 people in Durham and 35,000 people in Chapel Hill are still without power. They plan to have 90 percent restored by the evening of Dec. 11. Officials say it is a much better rate than with the winter storm of February 1996 in which there were 660,000 outages and it took nearly 10 days to fully restore power.

The North Carolina Association of Electric Cooperatives reported 91,000 statewide outages and more than 20,000 in the Triangle area.

Wake Electric officials reported 7,000 people do not have power in the Triangle. Officials estimate total damage to be $1.2 million and they hope to have repairs finished by Sunday.

"The tree limbs are still falling and getting tangled up in our power lines," said CP&L spokesman Mike McCracken. "We've made ground in some areas, but in other locations, we've lost ground.

CP&L 's efforts were going "one step forward and two steps back," McCracken said. "But sometime today [Friday], we're going to turn that corner, and it's going to start improving."

Charlotte-based Duke Power said it could do no more than hold steady as nighttime temperatures dropped to around freezing and caused more ice-laden trees to topple, spokesman Tom Shiel said.

Shiel said more than 8,000 workers labored fiercely overnight to clear fallen limbs and assess damage, but it would take days to restore power to everyone. Another 2,000 workers from other states were expected to help beginning Friday, he said.

"We've laid the groundwork to rebuild a substantial portion of our system," Shiel said.

Hundreds of repair workers were streaming in from other states to repair damage to power lines owned by CP&L, Charlotte-based Duke Power and smaller electric cooperatives.

"It will be an extended time for us to get the last customer on. We need to prepare for that," said E.O. Ferrell, Duke Power's senior vice president for electric distribution.

As of Friday, BellSouth officials reported there are still 23,000 outages statewide. There is no estimated time when everyone will have service because the ice is still a problem, but they have crews working 24 hours and have brought in extra generators.

Time Warner officials announced that 70 percent of the Triangle do not have any cable. Crews from Columbia, S.C. and Fayetteville are helping out in the Triangle to help restore the cable.

Highs were expected in the 40s Friday, meaning much of the ice would melt, but even that could cause more problems, said Ron Humble, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Raleigh.

The melting could cause more limbs to fall, he said. "We've got some trees that are under stress, and they've been bent to a certain shape for several hours," he said. "When the stress is relieved, instead of going back to normal and being 100 percent fine, they can continue to splinter and break. Also, any ice or branches that fall could hit other trees and power lines and take those down."

Roads were generally in good shape, but Humble warned that cars could be hit by falling ice and trees and there is more bad news for the powerless: a low of 17 was expected Friday night in the Raleigh area.

In Durham, tempers heated up as residents waited in long lines, hoping to get gas. Police had to be called to one area where customers started to get unruly.

Durham officials also decided to enact a curfew effective from 10 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Saturday.

Some Chapel Hill residents are out in the cold after a fire broke out Friday afternoon at the Kingswood apartment complex.

Fire investigators have not pinpointed a cause yet, but residents say some people on the top floor were using a grill inside their apartment. The complex does not have power.

The cold weather is also taking a toll on animals at shelters. The Orange County animal shelter is without power and officials are asking for donations of blankets to help keep the pets warm.

Durham Gas Lines

In Durham, tempers heated up as residents waited in long lines, hoping to get gas. Police had to be called to one area where customers started to get unruly.

The storm - which many compared to recent hurricanes for its scale of destruction - coated trees and roads in ice, snarled air travel and kept children around the state home from school.

For the second day, a number of schools are closed Friday including Wake, Durham, Orange, Johnston and Chatham and Chapel Hill-Carrboro schools.

Wake County school officials announced traditional calendar schools will now have classes on Feb. 17 and April 21. Saturday make-up days for year-round students are not yet announced.

Cumberland County schools will be open except for Raleigh Road Elementary. That campus is closed because it has no power.

Moore County schools will open one hour late except for five schools -- Aberdeen Elementary, Aberdeen Primary, Cameron Elementary, Sandhills Farm Life Elementary and Southern Pines Elementary -- that are closed because of power outages.

The Carolinas were the hardest hit as the weight of ice and snow snapped tree limbs and sent them crashing onto power lines. In Raleigh, the crack of buckling pines and oaks sounded like gunfire during hunting season.

Duke Hospital has reported several cases of carbon monoxide poisoning due to residents trying to heat their homes using a gas grill. One patient is listed in serious condition.

A 9-year-old Anson County boy died in a trailer home fire was blamed on a kerosene heater that was likely left on during refueling.

At least four people died in traffic accidents attributed to the storm, according to the state Highway Patrol. The accidents were in Alamance, Bertie Rowan and Scotland counties.

Thursday, Easley declared a state of emergency and waived most weight limits for trucks removing debris and repairing utility lines.

"Freezing weather is expected to continue" through Friday, Easley said Thursday. "It will continue to be dangerous on our streets and highways. People should stay off the roadways until conditions improve and temperatures rise."

Over the coming days without power, officials said people can expect food spoiling in homes, restaurants and stores; false alarms as batteries wear down on security systems; increased health problems, especially among the elderly; water lines bursting as they freeze; and power shorts when the electricity comes back on.

Residents who rely on wells with electric pumps will also be without water.

-- Anonymous, December 06, 2002

Answers

luckily for y'all that FPL is sending a bunch of crews up there to help out.

reminds me, I should get that heater unit fixed or replaced. it's 61 degrees outside already!

-- Anonymous, December 07, 2002


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