Storms Bring Down Trees, Knock Out Power Across Asheville Area

A large tree toppled across Windsor Road in North Asheville during the morning hours of March 16, landing just feet from a nearby home and crushing a storage unit — one of the more dramatic examples of damage left behind as strong winds and rain swept through Buncombe County and much of western North Carolina.

Joan Heller, who lives next to where the tree fell, said the storm caught her completely by surprise. Trees also came down in Black Mountain and Weaverville as the system moved through.

By 2:15 p.m., Duke Energy reported 440 residences still without power across the greater Asheville area. French Broad Electric saw steeper swings: the cooperative initially logged more than 1,000 outages at the height of the storm before crews brought that number down sharply to 64 by mid-afternoon, with 59 of those remaining customers in Mitchell County.

The broader regional picture was considerably worse. Ready NC, the state's outage aggregation service, tracked roughly 4,500 outages across North Carolina at 8 a.m., a number that climbed to approximately 6,100 by 8:30 a.m. By mid-afternoon, western North Carolina alone accounted for more than 16,000 outages, with Transylvania County bearing the heaviest load at more than 9,000. Ready NC's statewide count surpassed 20,000 by 2:46 p.m.

Duke Energy said line crews and tree crews were working to restore power as quickly and safely as possible. Officials urged anyone who encounters downed trees or power lines to avoid the area and turn around. Customers can report outages through the Duke Energy website, the Duke Energy mobile app, or by calling 1-800-769-3766.

A wind advisory remained in effect through 5 a.m. March 17 for nine counties: Avery, Buncombe, Haywood, Madison, Mitchell, Jackson, Swain, Transylvania, and Yancey. Late snow was also reported in the area. No major injuries were noted from the storm.