Blue Ridge had reports of around 500 outages in its coverage area from the wind, rain and hail that began around midnight and lasted into early Monday morning. Linemen responded immediately, and by 10 a.m. Monday, power had been restored to most customers.
Three of the outage locations line technicians are working to restore in Ashe County this morning, said Whitener, are at Knoll View Dr. and Hilltop Acres where a total of 26 members are without power; and another 12 are without power on Joines Road due to a tree on the line and line technicians are working to repair this and restore power.
Overnight in Ashe, a few of the larger outages were located on Yellow Bear Road (where 40 members were affected); Paul Goodman Road (another 40 members affected) and Hidden Pasture Road (46 members affected).
Most challenging in the restoration effort, said Whitener, is that around 50 different power line locations were affected. As line technicians repaired the system and restored final outages Monday morning, members are asked to call Blue Ridge Electric's PowerLine at 1-800-448-2383 if they are still without power. This will help ensure the cooperative is aware of all outages and completes full power restoration as quickly as possible.
An outage tracking map link and other information is available on Blue Ridge Electric's web site at www.BlueRidgeEMC.com and on the cooperative's Facebook page. Blue Ridge Electric serves some 74,000 members in Caldwell, Watauga, Ashe, Alleghany, Wilkes, Avery and Alexander counties.
Photo submitted/Renee Whitener, Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation
Downed power lines can still be energized and therefore dangerous. Members are advised to stay far away from downed power lines and contact their local Blue Ridge Electric office to report any they see. The local Ashe office number is 846-7138.
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