1,000+ without power in Charlotte area as Hurricane Florence approaches

Power outages have hit the Charlotte area as Hurricane Florence makes its way across the Carolinas and hundreds of thousands have already lost power in the eastern parts of both states.

Duke reported 1,600 without power in Mecklenburg County just before 3 p.m. on Friday. Statewide, Duke reported more than 400,000 without power.

Another 241,000 N.C. electric cooperative customers were also without power on Friday afternoon.

Even more outages are expected as Hurricane Florence makes its way across the Carolinas.

Duke had estimated earlier in the week that between 1 million and 3 million of its 4 million residential and business customers could lose power. Some of those outages could last weeks, depending on how long it takes for linemen to safely make repairs, Duke had said.

Duke has 20,000 workers, including workers from utilities in other states and Canada, ready to restore power when it is safe to do so, the utility said during storm preparation.

Duke’s power outage map can be viewed at www.duke-energy.com/outages/current-outages.

If residents see a power line problem Duke Energy Carolinas customers should call 800-769-3766 and Duke Energy Progress customers should call 800-419-6356.

The N.C. Electric Cooperatives outage map can be viewed at https://outages.ncelectriccooperatives.com/outages/maps.