Shownotes Transcript
Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Kristen Wright. In Florida, power outages are still widespread, although crews are making progress in getting the lights back on after Hurricane Milton.
In North Carolina, thousands of customers are still struggling day to day without electricity more than two weeks after Hurricane Helene. Katie Myers of Blue Ridge Public Radio reports. Many roads and major pieces of grid infrastructure were destroyed in Yancey, Mitchell, Buncombe and other counties. In mountainous communities, trucking and equipment has been a challenge, says Duke Energy spokesman
Bill Norton. We brought in poles via helicopter over the weekend. We can't get the equipment to the site, but we can get our line workers to the site. So the helicopter literally flies them in. The line crew on the ground guides them into the pole, and we do it one by one like that. While some communities use underground power lines...
The cost of installing them in these forested mountains would be astronomical. Temporary mobile substations are currently standing in for those that were lost. Norton said full restoration could take a year. For NPR News, I'm Katie Myers.
The presidential candidates are crisscrossing the nation in the final weeks of their campaigns in a race recent polling says is extremely tight. Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are heavily focused on key swing states. Trump is hosting a town hall in Oaks, Pennsylvania, outside of Philadelphia this evening. The campaign says it'll address top concerns for households in the state.
Former President Bill Clinton is campaigning for the Harris-Walls ticket in Georgia. He stopped in Columbus today, sending a message on jobs. Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, they want to make it possible for many more jobs to be open for people who've had skills training, who didn't get a college degree but have skills training. Clinton also made stops in rural Georgia yesterday. Early voting starts in the state there tomorrow.
Millions of voters have already cast their ballots during early voting for the general election. As NPR's Hansi Lo Wang reports, time is running out to register to vote in a handful of states.
South Carolina's extended deadline to register for this fall's election closes today. A court ordered state election officials to give eligible voters there more time because of Hurricane Helene. Tuesday is the last day to sign up in five states, Kansas, Louisiana, New Jersey, Oregon, and West Virginia. And there's less than a week left to register in Alabama and the swing state of Pennsylvania. October 21st is also the deadline in South Dakota, where eligible voters may want to do some extra planning because there's no online registration, only by mail or in person.
Election officials say these deadlines are a good reminder for already registered voters to check their registration status, especially if they move, change their name, or haven't voted in a while. Hansi Luwong, NPR News. You're listening to NPR News from Washington.
Thank you.
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