RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — More than 13,000 Duke Energy customers were without power as a powerful storm system moved east through the Carolinas on Wednesday.
According to Duke Energy, the number of North Carolina customers without power was at 13,203 as of noon Wednesday. As of 4:30 p.m., that has decreased to just over 10,000.
The outages came as the state braced for severe storm impacts from a front moving west to east. As the storm travels, the CBS 17 Storm Team has viewers on an Alert Day for our viewing area. Predictions have reigned true so far of possible tornados from high winds and damaging winds, prompting an Enhanced Risk/Level 3 Severe Weather Outlook from CBS 17.
Central NC Power Outages
While CBS 17 previously reported over 400 people were without power in Garner, that was the major outage as of this morning before the severe storm comes to central NC. Duke Energy said power was restored in Garner around 8 a.m. after a vehicle damaged equipment on Lakeside Drive between Vandora Springs Road and NC-50.
CBS 17 was on the scene of downed power lines on Zenith Place in Durham, leaving the entire neighborhood without power. Duke Energy was on site trying to restore power. The road was closed to drivers, as power lines were almost to the ground.
As of noon, no major outages are reported in central NC, according to Duke Energy. There are, however, small outages near the Durham/Orange county line, less than 150 without power in Wake County,
Western NC Power Outages
In a report from our sister station WSPA, close to 11,000 Duke Energy customers currently do not have power in western NC. The National Weather Service in their area has issued a High Wind Warning from 7 p.m. Tuesday to 1 p.m. Wednesday.
Numerous counties in their area are without power, including some that are still recovering from last year's damages from Hurricane Helene.
Triad Area Power Outages
In the Triad area of NC, there are over 2,500 customers without power. No estimated time of power restoration has been reported by Duke Energy just yet.
With the National Weather Service issuing a Tornado Watch for most central NC counties, it is only a matter of time before power outages become more widespread.
Find outages in your area using the Outages Page for Duke Energy right here, and stay tuned to CBS 17 for more information!
WSPA, WGHP and QCNews all contributed to this story.