More power trucks arrive in North Carolina to aid in restoration
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Hundreds of thousands of residents without electricity across North Carolina may see them as the cavalry riding in on steel horses.
In reality, they are utility workers driving bucket trucks - hundreds of them from across the country and Canada.
They are here to help Duke Energy get the power back on.
Because the bulk of the outages are in Wake and surrounding counties, a lot of those workers are staging in a massive parking lot at Raleigh's Walnut Creek Amphitheatre.
Among those who were bused in from local hotels at sun up Monday were Caleb Bragg - a utility worker from the state of Maine.
"Glad to be here and help," Bragg told ABC11. "Everyone's doing their part to try to get the power on."
Duke Energy spokesperson Meredith Archie said the effort is all part of a consortium of electrical companies committed to helping each other out.
"You know Duke Energy headed up to New York for hurricane Sandy. And we appreciate all the help that we've gotten from our neighboring and nationwide utilities," said Archie.
Many of the utility workers like Bragg consider the travel and hard work an adventure - an especially fulfilling adventure.
"We like to be on the road, help out other people. It's a good way to travel around, to see the country," he said.
Archie, the Duke Energy spokesperson, added, "They are passionate about what they do and they want to be able to help the communities where they're sent to."
A few hours after Bragg and hundreds of other linesmen and tree trimmers headed out at daylight, dozens more trucks with fresh reinforcements showed up.
It's a good thing, as rising rivers in Lumberton and other places could cause more outages.
In order to make sure all power is restored it is important to report your outage. You can do that by calling Duke Energy Carolinas at 1-800-769-3766 or text the word OUT to 57801.
