ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) -- Duke Energy is preparing for possible power outages in the Carolinas as Tropical Storm Helene could bring heavy rain and flash flooding.
Caroline Fountain, spokesperson for Duke Energy, says that Duke is gearing up for what storm trackers describe as potentially serious weather conditions.
"We have a team of meteorologists who are monitoring and tracking the storm as we speak. What we're looking at is basically seeing where the storm is going to be headed. We are anticipating high winds and rain. We have thousands of line workers and vegetation workers ready across the Carolinas in order to respond as soon as possible, as soon as we see any outages hitting and to make sure that it's safe to do so before we go there," Fountain said.
Tree trimming is performed throughout the year to ensure that there is no visible hazardous tree or excessive overgrowth, especially if there could be an imminent threat to Duke Energy power lines.
"What we do is tree trimming. We want to make sure that if there's trees and limbs that are near powerlines, that we want to make sure that we are mitigating that risk," she said.
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Duke Energy evaluates and schedules tree-trimming requests from customers based on power reliability and safety.
Fountain added that they are prepared for any possible power outages.
"During a storm or even blue sky days, we have this technology where if there is an issue on the line, we can re-route power automatically. What some people may experience as like a flicker or a quick 60-second outage and then their power is back on, they were actually getting their power back on and rerouted through a different direction," she said.
Fountain says they describe it like a GPS for the power grid, and that this technology automatically reroutes power to customers as soon as possible.
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"There will be those affected by a tree falling down on a line and [that] requires crews to go out in person to physically remove that tree and restore that power line. In the meantime, we encourage our customers to prepare for an outage, have an emergency kit, have nonperishable food, water flashlights [and] extra batteries," she said.
Anyone who loses power is advised to text the word 'out' to 57801.
This will allow Duke Energy to provide times for when the power will be back on and any additional information.