Duke Energy deploys 1,000 extra crew members to repair storm damage

To accelerate the recovery, the company is bringing in more than 1,000 additional lineworkers, tree trimmers, and damage assessors from outside the region. These reinforcements are tasked with navigating blocked roads and complex infrastructure damage to expedite the return of service. Starting at 7 p.m. Wednesday, the utility provider plans to begin displaying estimated restoration times on its digital outage map, though the severity of the damage in certain pockets may delay specific projections.

Andy Cassidy, the company's storm director, noted that while significant ground has been covered, the most difficult repairs—those involving broken poles and major equipment failure—still lie ahead. Crews are operating on a 24-hour cycle to clear debris and prioritize facilities critical to public health. Customers are urged to treat all downed lines as live and to navigate dark intersections as four-way stops until local infrastructure is fully stabilized.