CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It's going to be a long night for thousands of local families as downed trees and powerlines are still causing power outages across the Charlotte-area.
Tropical Storm Zeta's powerful winds raced through North Carolina and South Carolina today, cutting power to more than 500,000 Duke Energy customers at the height of the storm – more than 10% of the company's total customers in the two-state region.
It’s a blackout in many neighbors this evening.
But the one light of hope is the sight of power crews hard at work to repair and restore damaged powerlines like these.
Fallen trees could be spotted all across the area in the aftermath of Zeta and now begins the clean-up.
"Every 5-10 mins the phone is ringing," said Raheim Grier of Elephant Tree Trunk and Landscaping LLC. "Tree on my house, a limb fell on my neighbor's driveway, it’s been really busy."
Elephant Tree Trunk and Landscaping LLC said they're on call 24 hours to help meet the need.
"There was one house I actually took the tree off the house,” Grier said.
We’re told it was a combination of heavy ground saturation and high winds that created the not-so-perfect storm that toppled trees.
"In Mint Hill in this area, we have big oak trees and pine trees," Grier said.
But instead of waiting for the storm clean up in the aftermath, Grier said there are ways to stay proactive.
"Prepare for it by taking off the heavy limbs that are leaning towards the house or the driveway," he said.
And tree experts said there’s no better time than now.
"This is the best time of the season to top your trees off when they are dormenting," Grier said.