Power has been fully restored to thousands who lost their electricity during severe weekend storms.
HEMC spokeswoman Nicole Dover alerted the media early Wednesday, Oct. 7, that all power was restored to members of the local cooperative overnight. Some had been without power since Sunday.
The cooperative serves members in Habersham, Rabun, White, Stephens, Lumpkin and Hall Counties.
HEMC doubled its regular construction workforce through contractors and help from other EMCs after heavy rain and wind downed trees and power lines across the region. Dover says trees continued to fall Tuesday as roots gave way in the saturated ground.
Weather conditions hampered crews’ progress on Sunday. Transmission line problems also compounded the problems for HEMC crews.
UPDATE: Northeast Georgians Now Back on the Grid
Electricity to thousands of Georgia Power customers in Northeast Georgia was restored Monday.
As of 7:45am Wednesday, GA Power’s online outage map indicated fewer than a half dozen outages affecting five people across the state. There’s no indication that those outages are weather-related.
HEMC members are urged to report continued outages via phone: (800) 640-6812 or online at habershamemc.com.
While the weather has cleared and power has been restored there’s still the chance more trees could fall.
Those living in and traveling through the affected areas are urged to remain mindful of the dangers of downed power lines. If you see downed lines treat them as if they’re electrified. DO NOT attempt to remove trees from power lines. Call 9-1-1 and your local utility company immediately.
Updated 10/7/15 @ 7:50am
