ASHEBORO N.C. (ACME NEWS) — Asheboro Mayor Joey Trogdon declared a State of Emergency for the city effective 8:45 a.m. Sunday, following a severe thunderstorm that swept through the area Saturday, leaving widespread damage in its wake.
According to the city, the emergency declaration allows city building inspectors and fire marshals to work more efficiently with electricians to reenergize homes, and gives the city broader authority to bring in additional resources as recovery continues.
More than 40 streets were affected by storm damage, and hundreds of trees were downed throughout Asheboro. More than 3,000 residents were left without power following the storm.
Duke Energy and Randolph Electric Membership Corp. crews worked alongside city crews to clear roads and restore service. By Sunday afternoon, they had restored power to more than half of residential customers affected, according to the city. As of 5 p.m. Sunday, NC DPS was reporting 769 outages in Randolph County — with REMC reporting only around 50 customer-owners still without power.
The city said remaining outages could take an extended period to resolve, with crews needing to replace damaged service lines and power poles.
Two roads, W. Beasley Street and Southway Street, remained closed Sunday because of multiple broken power poles.
Despite the outages, Asheboro’s water and wastewater systems remained operational through the storm, the city said. About 20% of wastewater pump stations were running on backup generators, and the water treatment system — including Lake Lucas and the city’s Water Treatment Plant — was also operating on backup power.
In a statement Sunday, the city said crews were finishing storm cleanup while power providers continued restoration work, and asked residents to stay away from downed power lines, blocked roads and areas where crews are working.
Residents seeking power outage information were directed to contact their power provider directly rather than the city.
Updates on city service impacts will be posted to Asheboro’s social media accounts and website as they become available. Downed trees or problems involving city water and sewer infrastructure can be reported to 336-626-1234.
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