East Swelters in Power Outage

Duke Progress Energy truck (file)
Duke Progress Energy truck (file)

Some Duke Energy customers are still without power this morning (Tuesday) after a tree fell on a line near Bolton yesterday, as the second 100-degree plus day gets underway.

At the highest point, more than 1,900 residential and business customers  between Delco and Hallsboro were without power, according to Duke. Around 150 were still out at 9 a.m., with restoration expected by noon.

Heat index values are again expected to run from 105 to 110 today, according to the National Weather Service. Monday was the hottest day of the year so far, and power was interrupted for most customers during the hottest part of the afternoon.

A Duke spokesperson was not available for a further explanation about the outages, due to the Independence Day holiday. Duke officials told local leaders Tuesday that a tree had fallen on one line, and “animal damage” may have contributed to another outage.

Customers have expressed their outrage online, noting that Duke had a massive power outage on the coldest day of the year last year — which was also Christmas Eve — that was caused by a combination of freezing temperatures and increased demand.

This is a developing story.

About Jefferson Weaver 2611 Articles
Jefferson Weaver is the Managing Editor of Columbus County News and he can be reached at (910) 914-6056, (910) 632-4965, or by email at jeffersonweaver@ColumbusCountyNews.com.