ASHEBORO — Winter Storm Izzy struck Randolph County during the weekend, but power outages were mostly limited and crews worked to restore service quickly in many instances.
By mid-morning Monday, Randolph Electric Membership Corporation reported that things were in good shape for its customers.
“Crews worked into the late evening to restore damage from Winter Storm Izzy,” Randolph EMC said in a statement. “We’re happy to report no remaining outages at this time. We’ll continue to closely monitor conditions until the remnants of Izzy are long gone.”
Across Randolph EMC’s five-county area, there were 1,865 members reported with outages. The peak came at about 3 p.m. Sunday with 1,600 customers impacted.
At 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Randolph Electric reported fewer than 300 members affected by outages in its five-county service territory.
“So far, members in Montgomery, Moore, and Randolph Counties have experienced the most outages, due to the freezing rain and ice build-up on trees,” said Dale Lambert, Randolph Electric CEO.
Temperatures remained at or below freezing for much of Sunday.
“We are very pleased that the storm did not materialize to the level of ice and wind predicted for our area,” Lambert said. “I’m proud of our employee and contractor team for working quickly to get the lights back on for our members.”
The massive storm moved up the East Coast and impacted power, roads and travel across multiple states.
In advance of the storm, Duke Energy staged more than 11,000 workers – power line technicians, damage assessors and vegetation workers – across the Carolinas.
As of 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Duke Energy reported fewer than 70 outages in its Randolph County service area. The state’s largest utility reported more than 16,000 customers without power.
“We are very pleased that the storm did not materialize to the level of ice and wind predicted for our area. … I’m proud of our employee and contractor team for working quickly to get the lights back on for our members.”
Dale Lambert,
Randolph Electric CEO.
Randolph EMC enacted its storm response plan on Thursday and prepared for potential multi-day outages.
Randolph EMC released crews on Monday morning to aid the members of their sister cooperative, Pee Dee Electric Membership Corporation, headquartered in Lilesville. Trucks rolled out early to assist Pee Dee technicians just south of the Randolph Electric service area, where freezing rain accumulated in heavier concentrations.
North Carolina Department of Transportation officials continue to warn of black ice and hazardous driving conditions on roads.
The Randolph County School System wasn’t impacted right away by the storm in terms of instructional days. The schools were closed Monday for the Martin Luther King holiday, then teacher workdays were scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday.
There was a similar arrangement for Asheboro City Schools. An optional teach workday was in place for Tuesday, with another teacher workday Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Randolph Community College was closed Tuesday, citing “hazardous ice conditions on campus and roads.”
