BRE crews out in 'full force' as thousands of outages reported

WATAUGA — Blue Ridge Energy crews are out in "full force" as more than 11,000 people are without power combined in Watauga and Ashe County as of 7:40 a.m.

In Watauga, 6,468 BRE members are without power while 4,775 are without power in Ashe County.

"Our team is responding in full force in an all hands on deck effort to restore power," BRE stated on social media. "Please stay away from downed lines and report outages."

Another 4,700 BRE members are without power in Ashe County.

A flash flood warning is in effect until 3 p.m. Friday.

Additional rainfall amounts of 3 to 5 inches are possible in the warned area. Additional amounts as high as 6 to 9 inches could be possible across Watauga and Ashe Counties. Flash flooding is ongoing or expected to begin shortly.