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Power outage
Archived — this story has rotated out of today’s deck. It is kept here in full.
The gist
A tree fell on a power line in Wake County, cutting power to 35,000 customers. The outage closed Cary facilities and canceled evening events.
Background
On September 3, 2026, a tree fell onto a power line in Wake County, North Carolina, causing a major outage. Duke Energy reported the outage began around 2:15 p.m., initially affecting about 35,000 customers. By late afternoon, power was restored to most, but thousands remained without electricity into the evening.
How it unfolded
- Sep 3, 2026 14:15Duke Energy becomes aware of a transmission line outage in Cary, North Carolina, affecting thousands.
- Sep 3, 2026 16:23Fewer than 5,000 customers remain without power in Wake County, down from the peak of 35,000.
- Sep 3, 2026 18:40More than 5,000 customers are still without power, and several Cary facilities remain closed.
- Sep 3, 2026 20:18Duke Energy is investigating the cause; a tree fell on a power line during tree trimming.
Who’s saying what
- Official
- Duke Energy said crews are working to restore power and investigating the cause of the outage.
- Public
- Residents in Cary faced closures of community centers and cancellation of events like the Zumba class and a movie screening.
Still unverified
The exact cause of the outage is still under investigation; Duke Energy said a tree fell on a power line while crews were trimming trees, but this is not confirmed.