'It's quite frustrating': City leaders speak on continued power outages in Durham

DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) -- Mayor Leonardo Williams says the City of Durham has been activated and all hands are on deck. There are warming shelters, food resources, transportation, and the Red Cross helping people in need.

Williams said this is a huge hit to small businesses, the school district, and some of Durham's most vulnerable.

"I understand that things happen," said Williams. "But my tolerance for self-imposed, situations like this is very low, very little and that is it's quite frustrating to me."

Williams said Duke Energy leaders gave him a tour of the damage and the around-the-clock efforts to restore power. The issues are much bigger than first reported to ABC11 by Duke.

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"We found that there was more damage than we originally anticipated," said Jeff Brooks, Duke Energy. "The damage is kind of hard and manual to repair. So they're working down on the ground and some other areas to get to that equipment to make those repairs."

With the extended delays in restoration and ongoing outages, on the coldest nights of the year, Williams said he hopes more can be done.

"I want to see how this experience is recouped for residents," said Williams. "But also revenue losses as it is compensated for and for small businesses. Duke Energy is asking us to let them know if there are any small businesses or residents who have experienced loss to reach out to them."

ABC11 witnessed people staying warm in their cars, and many said it is not an isolated incident for them. They said power outages happen frequently in their neighborhood and Duke Energy is their only option for power.

"They are under the authority of the utility commission and so they do have regulations that they have to abide by," said Williams. "So I think this experience is going to let us know what policies of the utility commission may need to be evolved or may need to be considered."

Some residents are wondering if there is another issue at play.

"When you look at our maps and look at the economic status of those areas you realize that northeast central Durham is where some of our most impoverished black and brown communities are," said Williams. "So what's happening is we're having to, with curiosity, reverse engineer these events. So this is something that requires us to now go back and look and do a comparison study."

Williams said the city is there to help and is encouraging residents to check on neighbors, family, and friends in those neighborhoods.