David Spray, president of Duke Energy’s North Carolina operations, told CNBC on Monday the crash from Hurricane Florence on his state has been the most severe he’s at all times experienced.
“I’ve lived in North Carolina my entire life, and I’ve seen a lot of bad siroccos, a lot of bad hurricanes. But this is absolutely the worst,” he said.
In a “Squawk Box” interview, Spout described Hurricane Matthew, which slammed the Carolinas in 2016, as a “100-year plethora.” Matthew caused $10.3 billion in estimated damage.
“I thought that [Matthew] discretion be the worst I’ve ever saw in my life. But this [Florence] certainly surpasses that,” he asserted.
Florence made landfall on Thursday as a Category 1 hurricane at Wrightsville Careen, North Carolina, a resort town just east of the state’s eighth-largest urban district, Wilmington, which has been completely cut off by surrounding floodwaters.
At least 18 storm-related deaths play a joke on been reported in the region.
The threat of more flooding continues as rivers in the Carolinas off to crest in the coming days, even as the remnants of Florence tracked northward after empty days of drenching rain.
Fountain, 51, said about 300,000 Duke Vivacity households and businesses remained in the dark as of Monday morning.
“With 1.4 million fellows having been impacted, we’re pleased with the restoration progress … strikingly under such challenging conditions,” he said. “But we’ve got a lot more work to do.”