Duke Energy, contractors continue power line repairs after damage from Ian

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - The destruction from tropical cyclone Ian left thousands of North Carolinians in the dark.

According to a statement from the office of Gov. Roy Cooper, the statewide outage total peaked at 418,000 after 11:00 p.m. on Friday.

According to a spokesperson from Duke Energy, a majority of the power outages were in counties in and around the Piedmont Triad.

Here in the WBTV viewing area, the counties with the highest outages on Saturday were Rowan, Mecklenburg and Stanly County.

Shiloh Elbey was relaxing and talking to his sister Friday night when he heard a loud crash outside of his window.

He looked outside and saw a large tree stretched across Moretz Avenue in his Druid Hills South neighborhood.

“All of a sudden I heard a loud noise that was thunderous,” Elbey said.

The tree toppled over a power line, tangling the lines, and knocked out the power for at least 42 customers.

Duke Energy said the outage was reported at 9:36 p.m. Friday and they expected to have it restored by 10:07 p.m.

Elbey said he is thankful nobody was injured.

“I am impressed that no one was driving down the street and no one got killed,” Elbey said. “That’s the silver lining for me that no one got hurt.”

North Carolina was granted a federal emergency declaration from President Biden and FEMA. This federal declaration will provide federal recovery support and reimbursement for emergency protective expenses incurred by state and local governments during the storm.

Related: North Carolina reports four storm-related deaths due to Hurricane Ian

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