For the Daily News

 

As of Wednesday afternoon, North Carolina’s electric cooperatives were reporting 20,000 outages, all in the southeastern portion of the state. About 18,000 of those outages are located in Brunswick County.

As of 4 p.m. Wednesday, Tideland Electric Membership Corp. was experiencing no significant outages, if any at all, according to Tideland’s website. Tideland had positioned equipment and crews on the south side of the Pamlico River by Tuesday night to respond to any outages in that part of its service area. Tideland serves parts are all of the following counties: Beaufort, Hyde, Dare, Craven, Pamlico and Washington. It has about 22,000 metered services.

Accumulations of ice and snow could lead to outages in other areas as the storm continues to make its way across the state. Ice accumulation is the greatest concern, as it can weigh down power lines and snap tree limbs, causing power outages.

In the event of an outage, an alternate heating source — such as a fireplace, propane space heater, or wood stove — may be used, but extreme caution should be taken. Do not use charcoal or a gas-powered oven for heating. If you use a portable generator to power a heating source, be sure the generator is located outside your house for proper ventilation. Do not use a generator in an attached garage. Follow the manufacturer’s directions for operating the generator.

North Carolina’s electric cooperatives are monitoring conditions and responding to outages as quickly as possible. Electric cooperative members are asked to call their cooperative directly if they experience a disruption in power. For phone numbers to report outages and the counties served by each co-op, refer to www.ncelectriccooperatives.com/co-ops/coopList.htm.

North Carolina’s electric cooperatives serve more than 2.5 million people in 93 of the state’s 100 counties.