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Last updated on Tuesday, July 14, 2015
(UNDATED) - More than 81,000 Duke Energy customers lost power due to two waves of storms that rolled through the state Monday and early Tuesday morning.
Duke Energy works to restore power after two waves of major storms
ยท Duke Energy faces extensive restoration effort in hard hit communities of Columbus, Madison, Seymour, Franklin
Approximately 14,600 remain without power as of early Tuesday afternoon in the hardest hit communities, including Columbus, Madison, Seymour and Franklin.
"We've had back-to-back storms, which have made power restoration challenging," said Howard Fowler, Duke Energy's Midwest storm coordinator. "We were making good progress from the first wave of storms when we got hit by the second wave of violent weather early Tuesday morning."
Crews will be working throughout today and overnight to make repairs and restore power.
"The dangerous storms toppled huge trees and power lines, and the flooding has made it difficult to reach some areas for repairs. In one case we even had to use a boat to reach a trouble spot," Fowler said. "We've moved many of our Duke Energy crews to the areas with the most damage, and we've also supplemented our work force with additional contract crews."
Estimated times of power restoration
Many customers will be restored to power sooner than the following estimates; these are projections for completing power restoration. Some isolated outages will remain for customers who could not receive service due to structural damage at their homes or businesses.
Customers may also report an outage or view current outages online at www.duke-energy.com/storms
Restoring power
Restoring power after a storm can be challenging. Before power can be restored, crews first assess damage and determine which crews, equipment and supplies will be needed to make repairs. Because of this, customers may see Duke Energy damage assessors patrolling their neighborhoods before company repair crews arrive to begin the actual work.
Crews prioritize work to ensure the largest number of customers are restored as quickly as possible. Essential locations such as hospitals and emergency response facilities have priority.
If you lose power, please turn off as many appliances and electronics as possible. This will help with restoration efforts as it will reduce the immediate demand on the power lines when power is restored.
Once your power is restored, wait a few minutes before turning equipment back on.
Updates will be provided on Twitter at www.twitter.com/DukeEnergyStorm and www.facebook.com/DukeEnergyStorm.
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