GREENSBORO, N.C. — Utility teams and power crews spent the better part of Monday, working tirelessly to get the lights back on, after the winter storm left parts of the Triad an icy mess.
Despite bursts of stormy weather - Duke Energy was able to resolve most outages and restore power for the vast majority of customers in Guilford County. At its peak, more than 75,000 customers lost power.
Even with the lights back on, across the city - there are still signs of the storm's impact - like a large tree, blocking part of St. Patrick Drive in Greensboro.
"It was just horrific - the noise itself was startling," said Brenda White.
The crash of the tall tree, uprooted in the middle of Saturday's ice storm, is a sound White won't soon forget. No one was hurt - and no property damaged - but the sight of the branches and limbs covering the road came as a shock.
"When I talked to my daughter and I sent her the pictures as well, she said mom, just be grateful and thankful and blessed that it didn't fall the opposite way - because if it had fallen the opposite way - it would have come into the house."
Working since Saturday, city crews will spend the next couple of weeks, gathering debris still in the roadways or in yards.
"It was slow-going on Saturday all day," said Chris Marriott, Deputy Director of Greensboro's Field Operations, "Obviously we knew people were without power, and people want electricity and heat when it's cold outside. But we can't touch the trees that have powerlines through them so that's why there may have been a delay in certain locations."
His department is asking residents with extensive tree damage due to the ice storm, to report it by March 5th.
"We did start picking up today, but we know that it will take some people a week or two to get a tree crew in there, or church friends, or the guys down the street with chainsaws to help cut up the trees."
As they plan to pick up debris from this storm - Marriott says they're also prepared to handle any other severe weather and possible damage later this week.
"Since Saturday, we've been having rain pretty much constantly - and the ground is saturated so the likelihood of more trees being uprooted and not just breaking off is high," he explained.
