KENNY: IT COULD HAVE BEEN MUCH WORSE. POWER OUTAGES ARE A CONCERN ESPECIALLY AS WE HEAD INTO THE EVENG INAS THE TEMPERATURE DROPS. RIGHT NOW, ROUGHLY 64,000 PEOPLE ARE WITHOUT POWER INOR NTH CAROLINA. >> JEFF BROOKS WITH DUKE ENERGY JOINS US N.OW JEFF, GOOD EVENING. >> GOOD EVENING. HOW ARE YOU? >> WE ARE WELL. THANK YO FOR JOINING US. ARE YOU BREATHING A SIGH OF RELIEF TONIGHT GIVEN THE ANTICIPATION AND THE WORK THAT WENT INTO THIS? >> CERTAINLY A COULD HAVE BEEN MUCH WORSE. WEAD H PREDICTED 750,000 CUOMSTERS COULD BE OUT. WE DID NOT COME NEAR THAT, WHICH IS A GOOD THG.IN IFOU Y ARE ONE OF THOSE CUSTOMERS WITHOUT POWER, IT IS PERSONAL. THAT IS SOMETHING WE UNDERSTAN WE LOOK FORWARD TO HELPING EACH OF THESE CUSTOMERS. WH WENE LOOK ACROSS ETH TRIAD, WE ARE IN GOOD SHAPE. THERE ARE STILL POCKETS OF OUTAGES HERE AND THE.RE WHEN YOU LOOK ACROSS THE STATE AS A WHOLE, ETH TELLING STAT IS THE NUMBERS OF CUSTOMERS HAVE COME DOWN OVER THE LTAS FEW HOURS. 30,000 CUSTOMERS LESS THAN A FEW HOURS AGO. THE NUMBER OF INDIVIDUAL OUTAGES HAS GONE UP. YOU ARE SEEING THE SMALL NEW OUTASGE HAPPENING AS REMNANTOFS ICING IS BRINGING DOWN TREE LIMBS IN F AEW PLACES. IN THE TRIAD, WE FEDAR BETTER THAN OTHER AREAS. THERE ARE STILL POCKETS OFOUTAGES WE ARE STILL WORKING I THE AREA. KENNY: WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST CONCERN AS AFTERNOON TURNS INTO EVENING? WHAT MESSAGE DO YOU WANT TO SEND TO PEOPLE WHO DO NOT HAVE POWER AND HEAT AT THIS POINT? WE KNOW WHENEVER YOU ARE WITHOUT POWER IN THE WINTER,T I IS NOT GOOD. IT IS FRUSTRATING AND UNCOMFORTABLE. WE UNDERSTAND THAT. OUR CREWS ARE WORKING TO GET YOUR POWER BACK ON. OUR BIG CONCERN IS THE RE-FREEZING FACTOR, WHAT IT DSOE TO ROADS, HOW THAT INHIBITS OUR ABILITY TO MOVE AROUND .THERE IS THE CASE WHEN YOU HAVE ICY ROADS THAT PEOPLE CAUSE MORE OUTAGES. IT DOES HAPPEN .THOSE WITHOUT POWER, WE UNDERSTAND YOU ARE OUT THERE AND FRUSTRATED. WE WANT TO HELP U.YO WE BROUGHT IN THOUSANDS OF CREWMEMBERS INTO THE STATE TO BOLSTER WHAT WE VEHA LOCALLY TO MAKE SURE WE HAVE ADEQUATE RESOURCES TO ADDRESS YOUR NEEDS. THERE ARE A LOT OF OUTAGES AND A LOT OF SMALL GRINDING WORK TO GET THOSE REMAINING OUTAGES BACK UP. I HAVE ONE LAST QUESTION, FOR THOSE WHO MAY STILL HAVE POWER THAT MIGHT POTENTIALLY LOSE IT IN THE NEXT COUPLE HRSOU, WTHA ADVICE CAN YOU GIVE THEM RIGHT NOW TO PREPARE? WE HAD A LITTLE WARMING THIS AFTERNOON. THAT HELPED WITH SOME MELTG.IN THERE ARE SOME AREAS THAT GOT A LOT OF SNOW WEST OF HERE THERE ARE SOME AREAS THAT DID GET ICING JUST OUTSIDE NORTH AND WEST OF HERE. I STORMS A LITTLE DISCONCERTING. YOU STILL GET OUTAGES THAT HAPPEN AFTER THE FT. THE ONLY THING I CAN SAY IS MAKE SURE YOU HAVE YOUR PLAN IN PLACE. WE ARE ALMOST OUT OF THE WOODS BUT NOT QUITE. IF YOU HAVE A PLAN IN PLACE, IF YOU NEED ELECTRICITY, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THAT THOUGHT, AND YOU HAVE HAD THAT CONVERSATION WITH YOUR FAMILY SO YOU CAN BE AS COMFORTAE BL POSSIBLE. KEY:NN JEFF BROOKS JOININGS U FROM DUKE ENERGY. WE APPRECIATE YOU. WE APPRECIATE ALL THE NELI MEN AND WOMEN OUT THERE. I CANNOT IMAGINE THE WORK THEY WILL BE DOING OVERNIGH