CHARLOTTE—Duke Energy employees are already pulling long hours to handle extreme weather Friday.
They gave us a rare look inside their control center where crews will monitor power outages throughout their system.
Duke meteorologist Nick Keener says he expects ice buildup to make this one of the worst storms we've seen in years.
“Trees that are already weakened from drought, if they get a heavy load of ice on them, they can actually fall on the lines and bring them down. The other thing is, travel conditions become very, very difficult, so restoration is slowed by the fact that it's much harder to move around,” he explained.
Keener recommends you keep batteries on hand in addition to non-perishable foods.
He says you should also have a plan in case of a longer power outage.