Storm knocks out power for 6,000 along Alamance-Guilford line

A fast-moving storm knocked out power to more than 6,000 Duke Energy customers along the Guilford-Alamance County line before crews restored service to most homes and businesses by about 9 a.m. on June 19. The outage first appeared on Duke Energy’s map shortly after 4 a.m., leaving Gibsonville, McLeansville, Whitsett and Altamahaw in the dark before sunrise.

Duke Energy’s estimates shifted through the morning, with some areas showing a possible restoration time of 8:30 a.m. and others listed as late as noon. That left residents and business owners waiting through the early hours for updates while the utility map changed from red to normal. Duke Energy says its outage information is updated about every 15 minutes, and customers can sign up for alerts by text, email or voicemail.

The disruption was felt most clearly in downtown Gibsonville, where traffic lights along West Main Street were out during the outage. In a corridor where morning traffic, school runs and storefront openings depend on a steady flow of electricity, even a short interruption slowed the pace of the day. By the time power was restored, the outage had become less about structural damage than about the immediate inconvenience of missed routines, dark intersections and the cleanup that follows a hard wind and rain event.

Local emergency lines did not report major problems overnight. Guilford County non-emergency services and Alamance County 911 were not handling major issues, though Alamance County 911 did receive some reports of downed trees. Forecasters had warned of a weather-impact alert as wind and rain moved through the Triad, with a low tornado risk mentioned as well.

The outage covered part of a county that serves about 179,000 residents across fifteen communities, so even a narrow band of damage along the line can ripple quickly through daily life in Alamance County. In this case, the storm did not produce widespread structural damage, but it still cut power, darkened traffic signals and left neighborhoods waiting for crews to get the lights back on.