High Winds Causing Outages Friday Morning
For Immediate Release
Contact: Renee Whitener, Director of Corporate Communications, Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation, (828) 758-2383 ext. 3213; Pager:1-800-471-1323; or E-mail: Renee Whitener
BOONE, N.C., (September 27, 2002) – High winds sweeping over northwest North Carolina has led to outages affecting nearly 700 people in the High Country Friday morning.
Linemen at Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation were dispatched when the outages first began at midnight. Outages increased during the early morning hours.
As of 9 a.m., 445 people were without power in Watauga County. While outages were scattered widely across the county, heavier concentrations were occurring in the Laurel Fork/Hwy. 105/Poplar Gove areas as well as in the communities of Sands, Vilas, Big Hill and Silverstone.
Alleghany County had the next largest concentration with 197 members experiencing outages, which were scattered across the county with higher concentrations in Piney Creek, Laurel Springs, the town of Sparta and Edwards Crossroads. Ashe County had a total of 41 people without power across the county.
To report outages, members should call their local office or the cooperative’s automated outage reporting and account information line, known as Powerline, at 1-800-448-2383. In Watauga, the local office is at 264-8894; in Ashe, call 246-7138; and in Alleghany, call 372-4646.
High winds, heavy rain and other weather conditions can also cause downed power lines, which can still be energized and therefore dangerous and even deadly. If the public sees a downed power line, they are advised to stay away from the downed line, keep others away, and immediately contact the cooperative to report the situation.
Blue Ridge Electric is a not-for-profit cooperative serving over 64,000 members in Caldwell, Watauga, Ashe, Alleghany, Wilkes and Alexander counties.
