More than 120,000 Duke Energy customers are without power in the Tri-State

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CINCINNATI (WXIX) — More than 120,000 Duke Energy customers are currently without power in the Greater Cincinnati area.

According to the utility’s website, most of the outages are occurring in Hamilton and Clermont counties, but they still extend throughout the Tri-State.

“Line crews cannot resolve an increased power issue if the wind speed is above the safety limit of their bucket truck. I seem to remember the speed was between 32 and 35 miles per hour. If a power outage occurs, expect it to last for several hours (until winds reach a level safe for operations),” the Clinton County Emergency Management Agency said in a Facebook post.

Duke Energy officials have not provided a restoration date.

The remnants of Hurricane Helene are currently hitting the Tri-State with rain, some winds and a few power outages.

These conditions are expected to worsen after 2pm on Friday.

A high wind warning indicates that gusts could reach speeds of 60 miles per hour or more during heavy rain and widespread power outages.

The recent drought could cause problems for maintaining light operations.

Trees are now more fragile and have a higher risk of falling into power lines. According to Duke Energy spokesman Jeff Brooks, this is the main reason for the power outage.

“Although we cut throughout the year, we do so to reduce the number of outages,” Brooks said. “When you’re talking about a tree that’s 70 to 80 feet tall, you have enough wind and the right conditions that the thing can even fall from across the street.”

A few hundred Duke Energy line and tree workers are on the Gulf Coast Friday helping clean up hurricane damage.

“It takes an electric army, and fortunately as a major utility we have that,” Brooks said. “We will bring everyone into play to ensure we can restore power as quickly and safely as possible.”

Brooks said line workers can’t work in winds above 29 miles per hour, meaning if there are strong gusts, they won’t be able to restore power until it dies down.

To report an outage, Duke Energy customers can text 57801.

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