ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Thousands of people are without power around the Asheville area after severe thunderstorms hit the region this evening.

Duke Energy advised customers experiencing a power outage to be mindful of downed power lines.

“I would say it’s a safety emergency if there is a downed power line, especially if it’s energized,” said Zach Vavrika, Duke Energy representative.

Vavrika said that crews are actively working to restore power, but that an estimated time for restoration was still unavailable.

“Right now, we’re in the damage assessment phase, where we go out and we see, okay, this is an outage. How severe is the damage? Is there any trees, limbs, vegetation blocking our way?” Vavrika said. “Then we kind of go out and restore power based on that. So, in terms of the timeline, once we get through the restoration, we’re gonna be able to kind of get a better idea of when we’ll have a larger group of folks back on.”

In the meantime, the Duke representation recommended customers keep their eye on the Duke Energy outage map.

According to the map, customers in north Asheville, Alexander, Leicester, Biltmore Village and Weaverville are among the most affected, in addition to communities along Tunnel Road, Cane Creek Road and the Oakley neighborhood.

Approximately 10,000 outages are reported in the Asheville area.

Duke Energy has reported 31,526 customers presently without power and 777 active outages, as of 8:51 p.m., Tuesday, July 28, 2026.