CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Channel 9 checked in with Duke Energy officials on Tuesday evening and everything was quiet, with no outages to report in Mecklenburg County. However, this could be the calm before the big storm.
Duke Energy officials said they're ready.
They've already called in an additional 400 workers from the Midwest and Florida -- that's in addition to the 1,200 service workers they have here locally.
They will be monitoring neighborhoods like South Park and Dilworth, where you normally see large, older trees.
Duke Energy said those trees are the No. 1 cause of power outages during winter storms, and some people who live in areas like Dilworth say those outages are nothing new to them.
"We got all these trees and a lot of the time they fall on cables and it doesn't get taken care of for a couple hours," said Dilworth resident Trum Devries.
Duke Energy wants to make sure if the power is out, it gets restored as soon as possible.
The company will have 1,600 crews on the ground beginning overnight monitoring these neighborhoods.
Charlotte has a lot of power lines in neighborhoods that also have a lot of trees. If you lose power you can contact Duke Energy at 1-800-POWER-ON.
Blue Ridge Electric in the mountains is also on high alert for severe weather. Crews are double-checking equipment and filling up their gas tanks to make sure they are prepared.
Even if there isn't much ice, car crashes on the slick roads could knock over power poles.
WSOC
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