CHARLOTTE, N.C., July 4, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 800 Duke Energy line technicians and other specialists are working today to restore power to customers who lost power last night and early today after Hurricane Arthur barreled up the North Carolina coast.  

The company expects to restore electricity by late today in most areas, except hardest-hit Morehead City where restoration work will not be completed until late Saturday.

As of 12 p.m. (EDT) today, approximately 6,000 Duke Energy customers were without electricity.

A total of 83,400 customers lost power at some point during the storm.

The highest number of outages at any single point during the storm was 22,000 at 11 p.m. Thursday.

Duke Energy staged crews in strategic locations in advance of the storm, ensuring a rapid restoration response overnight and into today as weather conditions allowed.

"For the most part, we dodged a bullet," said John Smith, vice president of distribution maintenance and construction for Duke Energy Carolinas. "Fortunately, the hurricane delivered no more than a glancing blow to our electricity delivery system. We thank our customers for their patience as we work to restore power so customers can enjoy the rest of the holiday weekend."

Duke Energy uses a restoration process that returns power to the largest number of customers as safely, quickly and efficiently as possible. Top priorities include: health and safety facilities such as hospitals, police stations, emergency operations centers, fire departments, water treatment facilities and water pumping stations. The following infographic explains the process: http://www.duke-energy.com/pdfs/How-Duke-Energy-Restores-Power.pdf

Restoration Times

Customers who are without power can get up-to-date restoration times by calling the company's automated outage-reporting system -- 800-419-6356.

Outage totals and restoration information are also available on Duke Energy's online outage map at www.duke-energy.com/storm .

Meter Box Damage

If a customer's meter box has pulled away from a residence due to storm damage and the customer is without power, the residence's owner is responsible for contacting an electrician for a permanent repair to the box. In some cases, an electrical inspection might be required before the company can reconnect service.

If the meter box has pulled away from the house but power has not been lost, the customer should still call an electrician to re-attach the meter box.

A video explaining meter-box damage is available at http://youtu.be/q_Qq7dzz1vQ.

Stay Safe

• Be watchful for downed or sagging power lines. Consider all lines energized, as well as trees or limbs in contact with lines. Please report downed power lines to Duke Energy. If a power line falls across a car that you're in, stay in the car. If you must get out of the car due to a fire or other immediate life-threatening situation, do your best to jump clear of the car and land on both feet. Be sure that no part of your body is touching the car when your feet touch the ground.

Get Connected

• Visit Duke Energy's storm preparedness website -- www.duke-energy.com/storms -- for links to outage reporting tools, safety information and tips. There is also an interactive outage map where customers can find up-to-date information on power outages, including the total number of outages systemwide and estimated times of restoration
• Follow these social media accounts to get up-to-date information about outages and restoration efforts:
  • Facebook -- http://www.facebook.com/DukeEnergyStorm
  • Twitter -- http://twitter.com/DukeEnergyStorm
• Duke Energy's mobile-enhanced website makes it easier than ever to report an outage via your mobile device.

Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Duke Energy is a Fortune 250 company traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DUK. More information about the company is available at: www.duke-energy.com. 

24-Hour: 800.559.3853

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SOURCE Duke Energy