‘We’re going to have to completely rebuild’ – Outages persist for millions following Hurricane Helene

Duke Energy Florida braces for Hurricane Idalia (Courtesy: Duke Energy)

Millions are still without power in the southeastern U.S. following Hurricane Helene’s landfall and its devastating path inland over the weekend.

While lower than the initial outages experienced at the onset of the storm, the extensive damage caused by winds and flooding will likely slow restoration efforts. The confirmed death toll from the storm has reached the triple digits as of Monday morning.

The following states are experiencing widespread outages as of Monday morning, according to www.poweroutage.us:

  • Florida: 120,000 outages
  • Georgia: 570,000 outages
  • South Carolina: 760,000 outages
  • North Carolina: 416,000 outages
  • Virginia: 98,000 outages

Several other states were still experiencing outages, albeit at a lower level, including Tennessee (11,000), Kentucky (13,000), West Virginia (29,000), and Ohio (31,000).

Hurricane Helene roared ashore late Thursday in Florida’s Big Bend region as a Category 4 hurricane with 140 mph (225 kph) winds. A weakened Helene quickly moved through Georgia, then soaked the Carolinas and Tennessee with torrential rains that flooded creeks and rivers and strained dams.

Carolinas

North Carolina was hit particularly hard by the storm. A crisis unfolded in the western part of the state as officials rushed to get more water, food, and other supplies to flood-stricken areas without power and cellular service Monday, three days after Hurricane Helene ripped across the U.S. Southeast.

At least 107 people in six states were killed. A North Carolina county that includes the mountain city of Asheville reported 30 people killed. Georgia’s death count was raised Monday from 17 to 25. The storm unleashed the worst flooding in a century in North Carolina. One community, Spruce Pine, was doused with over 2 feet (61 centimeters) of rain from Tuesday through Saturday.

North Carolina’s governor, Roy Cooper, predicted the toll would rise as rescuers and other emergency workers reached areas isolated by collapsed roads, failing infrastructure, and widespread flooding. Supplies were being airlifted to the region around the isolated city of Asheville. Buncombe County Manager Avril Pinder pledged that she would have food and water to the city by Monday.

More than 2 million homeowners and other utility customers were still without power Sunday night. South Carolina had the most outages and Gov. Henry McMaster asked for patience as crews dealt with widespread snapped power poles.



On Sunday, Duke Energy said it had restored power to nearly 1.1 million customers in the Carolinas, with approximately 904,000 customers in both states still awaiting restoration on Sunday evening, primarily in the South Carolina upstate and North Carolina mountains. As of Monday morning, there were 330,000 Duke customers in North Carolina without power, and 468,000 in South Carolina. Nearly all these outages are in the western portions of each state, Duke Energy said.

Restoring service to the majority of customers in the upstate of South Carolina and the North Carolina mountains is expected by Friday, except for areas that are inaccessible, are dependent on infrastructure that has been destroyed, or are unable to receive service, Duke Energy said.

“Based on what we can see on the ground, from helicopter and by drone, there are lots of areas across the South Carolina Upstate and North Carolina mountains where we’re going to have to completely rebuild parts of our system, not just repair it,” said Jason Hollifield, Duke Energy storm director for the Carolinas. “And there are stretches of damage that we still can’t even assess due to mudslides, flooding, and blocked roads.

Duke Energy strategically positioned lineworkers, tree trimmers, and other storm support prior to Helene – and they started responding before the storm even left the region. The company now has 18,000 people working on storm restoration efforts across the Carolinas. These include Duke Energy employees and contractors based in the Carolinas as well as individuals from other electric companies across the United States and Canada.

Transmission infrastructure in Upstate South Carolina was “severely” damaged and, in many cases, destroyed by wind, flooding, fallen trees, and more, Duke Energy said.

Damages to Duke Energy’s infrastructure in North Carolina have also been severe, including submerged substations, thousands of downed utility poles, and downed transmission towers. Many areas of the North Carolina mountains are inaccessible due to mudslides, flooding, and blocked roads, limiting the ability to assess and begin repairing damages.

Power restoration work in the hardest-hit areas is projected to take several days or longer. Many areas in communities without power remain inaccessible to utility crews due to closed or blocked roadways, downed trees, and mudslides.

Georgia

Georgia’s governor, Brian Kemp, raised that state’s death toll Monday to 25, telling reporters that the storm “literally spared no one.” Most people in and around Augusta, a city of about 200,000 people near the South Carolina border, were still without power Monday, and Kemp and other officials tried to reassure residents that they felt their misery.

On Sunday evening, Georgia Power said it had restored service to approximately 610,000 customers since the start of the storm. As of Monday morning, nearly 370,000 Georgia Power customers were still without power. The utility said it could attribute its response to new smart grid technologies and the work of pre-positioned teams who were ready to respond as soon as conditions were safe to do so on Friday. 

The utility said its crews continue to navigate “treacherous” conditions including extensive tree and flooding damage, as well as road closures. Additionally, there is the potential for further damage and power outages that could occur due to the saturated ground and weakened trees, it said.

Georgia Power has determined Hurricane Helene was the most destructive hurricane in its history damaging infrastructure across the state. Initial damage estimates illustrating the extensive destruction of Hurricane Helene include:

  • 5,000+ power poles that must be repaired or replaced 
  • 9,000+ spans of wire equivalent to an estimated 425 miles 
  • 500+ transformers 
  • 1,500+ trees on power lines that must be removed or addressed to restore power 

Florida

On Sunday afternoon, Duke Energy Florida said it had restored power for 687,000 customers, but at least 73,000 customers were still experiencing outages. As of Monday morning, that number is at roughly 47,000 Duke Energy customers.

The utility said it has more than 8,000 crews working to restore power, and due to “substantial” impacts to the the barrier islands in Pinellas County, it is working to assemble a centralized command center in Madeira Beach. Additionally, Duke noted that the damage caused by the storm has rendered some homes and buildings unsafe to re-energize.

This article includes reporting from the Associated Press.

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