Cold weather leads to power outages in Orange County

It was extra cold Thursday morning for residents off of Forest City Road in Orange County who woke up without power.

“It was pretty chilly around here in the 30’s  so yea we realized it was off when the heat went off,” said Ed Cowart.

Cowart says it got down to the 40s in his house.

“When my teeth quit rattling and my knees stopped knocking I got up and got some clothes on” said Cowart.

Pam Garret- Jones says half of her apartment complex lost power.

“I had everything I could find on, hats, gloves three layers of clothes yes it was very cold,” said Garret-Jones.

Duke Energy crews worked to restore power throughout the day -- they say the frigid temperatures weakened the lines, caused the lines to sag and slip out of where they meet with the pole.

“This cold weather does sometimes stress our equipment and that equipment does supply our customers so sometimes the cold weather does impact our outages,” said Anna Gibbs, a Duke Energy spokeswoman.

Gibbs say there were weather related outages Orange County, but they came prepared.

“We did call some of our lineman in early this morning and they’ve been working really throughout the entire morning to restore power as safely and quickly as possible to our customers, Gibbs said.

Most of the outages were restored in a few hours.