Power restored to local residents

Kinston Public Services utility crews worked through the night Saturday, restoring power to nearly 2,500 residents who experienced outages due to the ice storm that moved through the area Friday evening.

“Less than 20 (residents) are without power now,” Randy Croom, electric systems superintendent for KPS, said Sunday. “All of those homes need to have repairs done before we can restore service.”

Croom said although the likelihood for power outages is has decreased; freezing lines could be a concern throughout the next several days.

“It’s just going to depend on the weather,” he said. “It depends on how much of this (ice) melt off and freezes back, but we will have crews on standby … to address any issues that may come up.”

Nearly 140 Progress Energy customers along British Road in Kinston and Burkett Road in Dover had their power restored by Sunday morning.

Roger Dail, Lenoir County Emergency Services director, said people should continue to “take caution” when leaving their homes.

“Our roads for the most part are starting to improve, but there are going to be some back roads that are pretty messy because the sun can’t get to them,” he said. “People need to drive with due regard in these kinds of conditions.”

Dail said Lenoir County has not experienced any major damage due to the storm.

“Right now, everything is looking pretty good,” he said.

Sarah Campbell can be reached at 252-559-1076 or scampbell@freedomenc.com.

No school
Lenoir County Schools and Greene County Schools have canceled classes for students and staff today. The basketball matchup between North Pitt High School and host Kinston High School has been postponed until next Monday.