Receding waters: Duke Energy reports entire substations were under water, gives update

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — Residents across Western North Carolina are starting to have power restored due to the tireless efforts of local power crews and also out-of-town power crews who are here to assist after the devastation caused by Hurricane Helene.

Bill Norton, a spokesperson for Duke Energy, told News 13 on the morning of Sept. 30 that their crews have "15,000 boots on the ground." With water now receding, Norton said they're beginning to fully assess the situation and see how much damage there has been to their substations.

"With water levels coming down, we are starting to see some of this damage. We had entire substations that were under water," Norton said. "That's major transmission infrastructure, not just the thousands of poles in individual neighborhoods that were shattered."

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Norton said crews are still working around the clock to restore power, but there are still areas they're not able to get to due to all the storm damage.

"There are areas still in Western North Carolina that are inaccessible. There are downed trees, mudslides, flooding and blocked roads. We have to thank emergency officials who are clearing roads for us," Norton said.

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Norton said the good news is that power is still expected to be restored to most customers by Friday, maybe even sooner.

"That doesn't mean it's going to take by Friday for everyone. We've already made some progress. For Buncombe County, there are now 91,000 without power, and that had been over 150,000 recently," he said.

These are the latest number of outages for Duke Energy, according to its website, at 9:30 a.m.

• Buncombe County: 91,000
• Henderson County: 69,195
• Rutherford County: 25,994
• McDowell County: 16,679
• Transylvania County: 12,219
• Mitchell County: 4,700
• Polk County: 8,681
• Madison County: 405

French Broad Electric, which serves parts of Buncombe County and Western counties, reports approximately 29,000 outages.