CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct. 14, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- An army of more than 10,000 repair workers today continued to restore power to Duke Energy's customers in the Carolinas following Tropical Storm Michael.

About 50,000 customers – almost all in North Carolina – remained without power as of 6:30 p.m.

Duke Energy expects to restore power to most of the remaining customers, whose properties can receive power, by 11:45 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 16.

Crews have repaired more than 1 million power outages since the destructive storm raced through the Carolinas on Thursday.

Utility teams from Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, New York, Ohio and Texas have joined Duke Energy's Carolinas workers to assist with repairs.

"We greatly appreciate our customers' continued patience during this challenging and stressful time for them and their families," said Duke Energy incident commander Rufus Jackson. "Our crews are working as quickly as possible to safely restore power to all of our customers across the Carolinas.

"The storm's severity caused significant, widespread damage to the region's electric system – damage that requires repairing and replacing large numbers of utility poles, power lines and other infrastructure components. That critical work takes time, but we continue to make significant progress," Jackson said.

Duke Energy is asking customers without power to turn switches to the "off" position on as many appliances and electronics as possible. That step facilitates power restoration by reducing the immediate demand on power lines when power is restored. Once power is restored, the company asks customers to wait a few minutes before turning on those appliances and electronics.

Power restoration information, by geographical zone, is available at:

https://www.dukeenergyupdates.com/michael/carolinas/hurricane-michael-restoration-in-the-carolinas

• Latest outage numbers can be found here. Information about how to report a power outage also can be found at that link.
• For the latest storm and power restoration updates, visit https://www.dukeenergyupdates.com/michael/carolinas – or follow Duke Energy on Twitter (@DukeEnergy) and Facebook (Duke Energy).
• Duke Energy urges all customers to check on neighbors who have special needs and might require extra assistance due to a power outage.

Power line safety

• Stay away from power lines that have fallen or are sagging.
• Consider all power lines – as well as trees, limbs and anything else in contact with power lines – energized and dangerous.
• 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.
• Click here for a video about power line safety.

DUK

24-Hour: 800.559.3853

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SOURCE Duke Energy