Power Restoration Work Continues

Watauga: 9,300; Ashe: 1,300 as of 6 a.m. Sunday

Lenoir, North Carolina (December 27, 2009-6 a.m. update) - Power restoration progress is being made but massive amounts of fallen trees and damage from the Christmas Day ice storm will cause restoration efforts to extend into Tuesday before all electricity is predicted to be restored for Watauga County.

More than 200 line crews from Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation and assisting utilities are working today to fix broken poles and downed power lines. In addition to extra crews, the cooperative is working to accelerate restoration efforts by bringing in bulldozers to move debris and further access system damage by patrolling remote power lines by helicopter.

As of 6 a.m. Sunday, 9,300 members in Watauga County and about 1,300 in Ashe County remain without power. Power has been fully restored to Caldwell and Alleghany counties. As crews complete restoration in one county, they're moved directly to the next area of outages.

Members can report outages by calling the cooperative's automated Powerline at 1-800-448-2383. Call volume is heavy so the cooperative asks that members be patient when calling.

Members should be aware that some parts of Watauga and Ashe counties have been much more heavily damaged than others. Therefore, outages may be occurring in some areas that do not have apparent damage but whose electricity is fed out of power lines in an area that has received more extensive damage from fallen trees and ice.

The cooperative reminds the public that downed lines can still be energized and therefore dangerous or even deadly. Stay far away from downed lines and report them by calling Blue Ridge Electric at 1-800-451-5474.

Blue Ridge Electric has brought in an additional 107 line technicians from neighboring cooperatives Piedmont, EnergyUnited, Union Power, Pee Dee, Lumbee River, and Central EMC, as well as crews from Pike Corporation, Carter Utility Services and Asplundh Tree Expert Company.

Members with special medical or life support needs should contact their local emergency management office for assistance or call the American Red Cross at (828) 263-2639.

Members can view outage updates at any time by visiting www.BlueRidgeEMC.com and clicking on the "outage map" link. Outage updates and other information is also available on the web site as well as on Blue Ridge Electric's Facebook page.

Blue Ridge Electric serves some 73,000 members in Caldwell, Watauga, Ashe, Alleghany, Wilkes, Avery and Alexander counties.