4:30 pm Sunday OUTAGE UPDATE: Crews Working To Restore Power from Heavy Snow Overnight

LENOIR, NC (4:30 pm December 9, 2018 – OUTAGE UPDATE) — Blue Ridge Energy line technicians have outages down to 871 members without power as of 4:30 pm Sunday, after a height of 2,269 as of noon today.

The foothill areas of Caldwell and Wilkes counties in the cooperative’s service area received the most damage and outages due to over a foot of heavy, wet snow weighing on trees and limbs, causing them to fall into power lines. Temperatures in the mountain counties in the cooperative’s service area were a few degrees colder, creating a lighter, fluffier snow that left significantly less damage and outages.

As of 4:30 pm Sunday, outages stand at: 457 in Caldwell County; 375 in Wilkes County; 29 in Watauga County; and 10 in Ashe County.

Crews continue working this afternoon and evening but due to damage in very remote, difficult to reach locations, some outages may go into Monday before full restoration is achieved. Conditions are treacherous, with crews working to reach some locations by foot, and line trucks pushing snow up to their bumpers on many rural roads.

Line technicians began responding to outages at 2:47 am Sunday when issues first began.

Blue Ridge Energy reminds members to report all outages by calling 1-800-448-2383 or by using the Blue Ridge Energy mobile app. Outage updates are available on the cooperative’s live outage map at www.BlueRidgeEnergy.com or on the mobile app.

Blue Ridge Energy serves some 76,000 members in Caldwell, Watauga, Ashe, and Alleghany counties as well as parts of Avery, Alexander and Wilkes counties. Learn more at www.BlueRidgeEnergy.com or on the cooperative’s social media on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.