Strong thunderstorms that swept across Western North Carolina Tuesday evening, (7/28/26), left thousands of French Broad Electric Membership Corporation customers without power and disrupted fiber internet service in several mountain counties.
The storms caused scattered outages across Madison, Yancey and Mitchell counties as heavy rain, lightning and strong winds moved through the region.
French Broad Electric reported that crews were deployed as quickly as conditions allowed to restore service. The cooperative said Duke Energy expected its main feeder serving Madison County to be restored by late Tuesday night, bringing power back to most affected customers. However, some areas around Marshall, including Petersburg, were expected to require additional repair work.
As of this morning, French Broad crews continue working to repair storm damage. Officials say restoration efforts are ongoing and ask customers to remain patient as crews work safely to restore both electric and fiber internet service.
As the storm was developing our Radio Emergency Alert System sent out thunderstorm warnings at 5pm and a Tornado Warning for Yancey and Madison Counties at 5:38pm
A photo that appeared to show a tornado forming near a gas station in Weaverville made its way across social media Tuesday evening. That photo has since been confirmed to have been generated by artificial intelligence.