ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Power crews worked around the clock in and around Asheville, N.C., and across western North Carolina as the remnants of Isaias brought down trees and power lines, leaving customers in the mountains waiting for the lights to come back on.
Duke Energy said it has hundreds of crews working to restore power in the western part of the state, including crews brought in from the coast and the Triangle. In the Asheville area the utility operates as Duke Energy Progress, the primary electric provider for the city.
Wind is the main obstacle. Duke Energy said bucket trucks cannot be raised safely when winds top 30 miles per hour, so crews have to pull back and wait out gusty stretches. That can slow restoration, and the company said safety comes first.
French Broad Electric Membership Corporation said all of its line crews and service crews are working on outages, with no outside crews called in so far. The cooperative said broken poles are the slowest repairs of all, because each one takes time to replace and equipment cannot always reach the site.
North of Asheville, Yancey County emergency officials reported no floods or road closures, but a lot of downed trees and power lines that caused outages. A swift water rescue team from the Mooresville Fire Department was deployed to Yancey County to stand ready, the Forest Service was on standby, and the county opened an emergency shelter for the storm.
The storm is a sensitive test for a region still rebuilding. Asheville sits at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, and local agencies have built their storm plans around post-Helene emergency response coordination after the 2024 floods.
Utility officials urged residents to stay away from any downed power line and to report one by calling 911 and Duke Energy. Both Duke Energy and French Broad Electric post live outage maps for customers tracking restoration.
