Duke Energy crews have restored power to more than 1.3 million customers in the Carolinas – where 1.4 million customers were without power – and nearly 316,000 customers in Florida after Hurricane Matthew battered the three states.
Storm updates
In Florida alone, more than 3,500 company crews and contractors worked 16-hour days and overnight to restore power and respond to 911 assistance calls.
Matthew hit the Carolinas on Saturday with high winds and torrential rain as a Category 1 storm. Matthew left large portions of the Carolinas, mostly in the east, more heavily damaged than projected, on a scale similar to the destruction of Hurricanes Hugo (1989) and Floyd (1999). In some Duke Energy service areas, the electrical system will need to be rebuilt.
Duke Energy quadrupled its restoration efforts with more than 10,000 people in the field in the Carolinas from as far away as Canada to help solve extended outages.
“We are asking folks to be safe and be patient," said Bobby Simpson, Duke Energy’s storm director. “The sun may be out today, but it doesn’t mean everything is ok. We’re looking at a long, difficult road to recovery.”
This article was updated to reflect new information on October 12, 2016.