Hurricane Florence has knocked out power for more than half a million people less than 24 hours after coming ashore in North Carolina.
More than 615,849 customers have lost power as of 2 pm Friday, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Safety. Florence touched down early Friday as a category 1 storm with sustained winds of 90 miles per hour, quickly knocking out power.
Originally rated as a category 4 storm, East Coasters began preparing for high winds and rain earlier this week. Over 1 million people are under evacuation warnings, with 10 million more under storm watches and warnings, CBS News reports.
JUST IN: Hurricane Florence makes landfall as a Category 1 storm near Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, packing maximum sustained winds of 90 mph.
Live storm updates: https://t.co/qCoYDl8bdf
Watch live on CNN: https://t.co/VCXwf7JkQKpic.twitter.com/BLTHr7CrKV— CNN International (@cnni) September 14, 2018
The most affected areas are in North Carolina, particularly the counties of Bladen, Brunswick, Carteret, Columbus, Craven, Cumberland, Duplin, Johnston, New Hanover, Onslow, Pender, Sampson, Wake, and Wayne.
According to Duke Energy, the largest electrical provider in the Carolinas, between 1 and 3 million people in South and North Carolina may be left without power after Hurricane Florence.
“We anticipate Hurricane Florence to be a historic storm that will impact all customers,” a company spokesperson told Reuters. Duke Energy provides power to 4 million people across the Carolinas.
More than 20,000 people will be in place to attack restoration as soon as it’s safe to do so. Right now, 1,200 line workers, contractors and related support personnel from Florida are on their way to the Carolinas to help in Hurricane #Florence efforts. pic.twitter.com/8KIKn4mKWz
— Duke Energy (@DukeEnergy) September 12, 2018
Despite having 20,000 employees on standby to work on restoring power, Duke Energy said it could take weeks to repair Florence’s damage.
Last year, Hurricane Matthew left 1.5 million Duke customers without power and cost the company $125 million in power line repairs, The Weather Channel reports.