Greensboro, NC-- News 2's Liz Crawford spoke with some folks who went about 17 hours without the air conditioner due to Friday night's wind damage.
The excessive heat is nothing new to us here in the Triad. Every summer we expect it and know what to do. Stay in a cool place, stay hydrated, keep a close eye on children, seniors, and pets. But if the power goes out, all of a sudden staying in a cool place becomes a little more complicated.
Although, neighbors in Greensboro are enjoying their cool homes now, when News 2 arrived Saturday afternoon, they were waiting for crews to bring them relief on Lynbrook Dr. With temperatures near record highs, crews couldn't work fast enough.
"We've been without power since about 10:30, 10:45 last night," said Betty Mabe.
Betty waited on Pike Electric crews as they worked for several hours behind her home.
Betty told News 2, "We had at least two trees that went down, clip the lines, and apparently caused a short in the lines which melted them."
Betty lives with her elderly parents, who thankfully had back-up during the unexpected seventeen hours without AC. If her parents didn't have the generator, she would have taken her parents to one of her sisters.
The crews, battling the heat themselves told News 2 they don't leave a site until power is restored.
Another neighbor, Clara Varela said, "My niece call us and say, you have no power, and I say oh my god!"
The crew surprised Clara and her husband, who came home from a two week vacation to hot temperatures and no power.
"We came and look, no power! I said oh my god but thank god, in a half hour we got power. We are happy now," said Clara.
As for the crew, send from the Charlotte area, they told News 2 the heat wasn't so bad. Originally assigned to Ohio for storm damage, they were grateful to stay in state, even if it was sweltering.
Betty and Clara weren't the only ones playing the AC waiting game. Right after Friday night's wind storm, there were more than 9,000 power outages across the Triad reported by Duke Energy. By 9pm on Saturday, that number was about 800. To see the latest power outages in the area, click here: Current Outages
A Duke Energy spokesperson told News 2 that equipment damage from the wind made for a longer than normal restoration process.
WFMY News 2