These Are The States Facing Power Outages This Christmas Eve

This is an excerpt from The Washington Examiner.

The Christmas holiday might not be so merry and bright for some state residents this year.

At least 1.6 million people have lost electricity and are waiting for it to return as of Saturday morning, all thanks to a “bomb cyclone” that hit the United States this week.

The drastic change in weather has also put a hiccup in many people’s travel plans for the Christmas holiday, with thousands of flights either delayed or canceled as a storm precaution.

The following states have at least 50,000 or more residents who are without power on Christmas Eve.

North Carolina

The state with the most power outages going into the weekend is North Carolina, with 415,588 residents without power as of 10:40 a.m. EST. The number has more than doubled since Friday, when almost 200,000 were without electricity, according to PowerOutage.us.

Tennessee

The Volunteer State has close to 300,000 residents without power, with the total reaching 296,897 as of late Saturday morning.

“We encourage all Tennesseans to take extra precaution on roads & heed warnings from officials throughout the weekend,” Gov. Bill Lee (R-TN) wrote on social media on Friday.

New York

The Empire State does not have nearly as many outages as other states to its south, such as North Carolina and Tennessee, though it has well over 50,000 people without power as of Saturday morning, with the total right now being 69,833.

“If you must go outside, wear appropriate clothing, monitor for signs of hypothermia or frostbite, and take breaks,” Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY) wrote on social media. “Stay warm and stay safe, New York.”

The list also includes: Maine, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, Georgia, and Kentucky.

Read the full story here.