ROCKINGHAM — As was the case during Hurricane Florence in 2018, Rockingham Dragway was ground zero for Duke Energy’s effort to restore power to a Sandhills region hit hard by last week’s ice storm.
More than 150 bucket trucks, dozens of support vehicles and more than 300 linemen and other workers were bivouacked at the racetrack at the company’s Winter Storm Restoration Center.
The compound included a command center, a commissary and virtually every other resource one would expect of a small city. Furthermore, to accommodate workers from Florida and Ohio as well as North Carolina, Duke Energy reserved upwards of 300 local hotel rooms.
“We are gratified to be able to assist in some small way in restoring the power to so many of our neighbors during this difficult time,” said track owner Steve Earwood. “It’s a privilege to work again with the great people at Duke Energy and to see first-hand how hard they work on behalf of the rest of us.”
