High winds hit

the High Country

The National Weather Service (NWS) is continuing its high wind warning for the High Country until 9 p.m. Wednesday.

The NWS is predicting winds between 30 and 40 mph throughout much of Wednesday and into the night.
Gusts of up to 65 mph are possible.

The weather announcement warns that winds of this magnitude may cause sporadic power outages, fallen trees or minor property damage.

The gusts can create dangerous driving conditions for high profile vehicles.

Items that are not fastened to the ground or home, such as garbage cans and deck furniture should be moved indoors.

Renee Whitener for Blue Ridge Electric Membership Corporation confirmed there have been outages, mainly affecting Ashe County members.

The largest outage reported thus far affected 260 members due to a breaker malfunction in the Cranberry Creek area.

There have been a total of 1,200 members affected by high wind outages since the first report at 3:34 a.m. Wednesday. Whitener said linemen have been working throughout the day and most outages have been kept at a minimum of 30 minutes, though the longest has been five hours.

As of 3 p.m., power has been restored to all but 14 members, with crews currently working to restore their electricity.

Customer services representatives and linemen will be on call throughout the night to correct any outages. If an electricity is affected, members can call (800) 448-2383 for service restoration.

Steve Sudderth of the Watauga County Emergency Management recommends residents maintain an extra supply of water, foods that do not require cooking, flashlights with extra batteries and extra blankets in the home in case of an outage.

If candles are used for lights, Sudderth says they should be set on flat surfaces only in occupied rooms.

Grills and outdoor cooking equipment should never be used indoors, he added.

— Melanie Davis, staff writer