BOONE
An ice storm downed tree limbs and power lines in Northwest North Carolina yesterday, leaving more than 21,000 customers of Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corp. without power on Christmas Day.
Ice was an inch thick on tree limbs and there was 1½ inches of slush on the roads, said Steve Sudderth, Watauga County's emergency-management coordinator.
"There are power lines down in the road, there are trees down in the road, there are transformers down in the road," he said.
He said that the N.C. Highway Patrol was asking that no one travel last night unless absolutely necessary, and he worried that tonight could be worse for the roads. Temperatures are expected to rise to the low 40s today but then drop back to the mid-20s tonight, according to the National Weather Service. "If the temperatures drop like they say they're going to drop, it's going to get ugly," Sudderth said.
Line technicians are working to restore power, but officials with Blue Ridge Electric said that the outages could be extended because of high winds and icy conditions.
The Watauga County Chapter of the American Red Cross set up emergency shelters yesterday in the Deep Gap Volunteer Fire Department and the Valle Crucis Conference Center, said chapter director Sonny Sweet. A family of four was staying at the Valle Crucis shelter after a tree fell on their mobile home.
Sweet said that creeks are overflowing their banks so flooding could also become a problem, as temperatures increase today and snow and ice melt before refreezing tonight. There's also a possibility of snow flurries on Sunday.
The majority of the power outages were in Watauga County, where 12,922 customers were without power. About 4,300 of those were in the Sherwood community, where a substation was affected. Ashe County had 5,678 customers without power, with a concentration in the Beaver Creek area and along N.C. 194. There were 1,678 outages in Alleghany County and 1,172 in Caldwell County.
Crews from Blue Ridge Electric were being assisted by crews from Energy United, Union Power, Pike Electric Corp. and Carter Utility Service.
About 19,000 customers remained without power at 4 p.m. yesterday, said Renee Whitener, a spokeswoman for Blue Ridge Electric.
Sudderth said he's been told that most of the power should be restored by Sunday, but it could take until Monday or later to get all the power back.
He compared the number of downed trees in Watauga County to those brought down there by Hurricane Hugo.
"This is the worst I've ever seen it," he said.
Members of Blue Ridge Electric may report power outages at 1-800-448-2383 or report downed power lines at 1-800-451-5474.
mmitchell@wsjournal.com
336-667-5691
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