North Carolina Mountain Residents Wait for Power

Thousands of residents in our mountains are still without power after last nights snow storm.  The hardest hit areas were Ashe and Alleghany Counties. In Boone, Blue Ridge Electric has hundreds of linemen working to repair damaged utility lines.  WFDD's Kathryn Mobley spoke with Public Relations Director Renee Whitener. She says in some areas, residents may not have power until tomorrow. "Just literally hundred of locations where either trees were falling down on power lines or the heavy, wet snow was pulling them down." According to Whitener, 75 additional linemen from sister cooperatives have been called in to help clear away downed trees and restore power. This is in addition to our hundreds of linemen." Whitener also says some fallen tress have torn the meter base from homes. Residents are responsible for getting them reconnected. So Whitener urges them to get an electrician out as soon as possible so Blue Ridge Electric can then restore their power.  Whitener says linemen have additional obstacles. Several days before the storm, it rained causing flooding in some areas and loosening the ground around tree roots. "Very large trees are falling down on power lines and blocking access to where we need to reach." Thursday night's storm dropped about 8-14 inches of snow across the mountains.At the height of Thursday's snow storm, 9,000 Blue Ridge Electric members had no power.