NC family thanks lineman by doing their laundry

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WECT) -Lineman from near and far have flocked to Wilmington to help restore power to the area after Hurricane Florence caused widespread damage last week.

Many residents have gone above and beyond to accommodate those men and women who working around the clock in dangerous conditions.

One New Hanover family decided to help their lineman in a unique way.

Shannon Krueger and her daughters reached out to lineman in their area and offered to do their laundry.

Girls met and thanked some linemen that are working tirelessly to restore power! The least we could do is get their wet clothes clean and dry!! #hurricaneFlorence #wilmingtonstrong #WilmingtonNC #linemenrock @NewHanoverCoSch @RolandGriseMidd pic.twitter.com/kAFFKksVoy
— Shannon krueger (@Shannon49186240) September 19, 2018

Krueger said her daughters even drew thank you cards to include in their laundry bags when they returned their clean clothes.

Clara is putting a thank you picture in each of the linemen’s laundry bag!! #andersonadmiral #linemenrock @AndersonElem @NewHanoverCoSch @KristaCHolland1 pic.twitter.com/1sAgYAl06F
— Shannon krueger (@Shannon49186240) September 19, 2018

Many residents are taking to social media to share their appreciation for lineman with the hashtag #thankalineman.

As of Wednesday, more than a quarter of a million customers are without power across the state.

At last check, more than 48,000 people were out of power in New Hanover County.

More than 10,000 were without power in Brunswick county.

Pender has 8,000 outages, and nearly 7,000 are still in the dark in Columbus County.

A little over 2,000 are also without power in Bladen County.

Duke Energy expects effects of Florence to be felt for several days or even weeks after the storm.

Outage Maps:

Duke Energy: http://outage map.duke-energy.com/ncsc/default.html
Brunswick Electric:http://bemc.maps.sienatech.com/
Four County Electric: http://gis.fourcty.org/pub/map.html

Duke Energy wants customers to report an outage as soon as possible. You can call (800) 769-3766 or text "OUT" to 57801. You can also sign up for text message alerts about outages and restoration timelines at your home or business.

Representatives from Duke Energy urge everyone to avoid down lines at all costs, and report those to the outage phone number as well.

Generators:

If using a generator, never bring it indoors, even in the garage, and never refuel the machine while it is running. Duke provides a comprehensive guide to generator safety here.