Editor’s Note: The following news release was issued by Habersham County just before 5 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 15, 2017. It provides an overview of damage caused by Tropical Storm Irma and an update on recovery efforts.
This is a brief update on the status of the County’s efforts to clean up after Hurricane Irma. This hurricane began effecting Habersham County late in the afternoon on Monday, September 11th and continued to cause wind damage throughout Tuesday, September 12th.
During the night on Monday, September 11th, the Sheriff’s Department brought in a double shift, as did the Fire Department, and the full road maintenance crews. These departments as well as EMS worked in conjunction with each other to respond to E911 calls for service, clearing of roads, and the removal of debris that would be blocking traffic.
At approximately 1:00 am on Tuesday, September 12th, road crews discontinued their efforts until daylight because they could not keep up with the number of falling trees. By Thursday, September 14th approximately 80% of the roads are now passable. We expect to have the remaining 20% of the roads cleared by the end of the day. Some roads are still blocked as they have trees wrapped in powerlines. If powerlines are tangled in trees we need to wait on power companies to ensure the power is turned off before we can remove the trees. As of, Thursday, September 14th, we are still without power at the Public Defender’s Office and Road Maintenance and Fleet Maintenance are still without a primary power source but are running on generators.
E911/EMA staff brought in extra help so they could answer all 13 lines coming into the emergency operation center at the peak of the storm. They amassed many pages of emergency services requests. The primary issue was the number of trees down which caused numerous road closures. The biggest challenge the public works crews had was clearing the roads from the downed powerlines.
The Courthouse, Administration Building, Sheriff’s Department and Jail came back online Wednesday evening at approximately 7:00 pm. The Senior Center came back online at about 11:45 am this morning (September 14, 2017).
The 911 Center lost power and their internet connection early in the storm. Their primary radio system and the voice over IP Phone System was down. They went back to using the old analog radio system, land lines and cell phones were also used to communicate during the storm.
Tuesday evening the 911 Center power came back. They are now able to use most of the radio system except for the Tallulah Falls area. We have received additional assistance from a DNR chain saw crew. Stephens County sent us one 4-man road maintenance crew.
Lynn Smith, E911 Director has provided the following additional information:
I wanted to give you a brief update as to where we stand today. Out of the four radio towers, we are now back up on three. We still have Tallulah Falls radio system down due to fiber issues. EMC is working on it and has been since Tuesday. Hopefully it will be back up today. We have about 50% of the roads cleared, 30% are cleared one lane only, 20% are still blocked completely. Some are not cleared enough for emergency personnel to get through, but citizens can come in and out. I have put in a request for a chain saw team from DNR. They are getting ready to head our way with equipment to move the trees out of the way. We are now trying to find a chipper.
We answered 836 calls Monday night when the storm hit that were related to trees and road hazards. Tuesday, we handled 681 that were reported the same way. I have no idea how many for power outages. This does not include medical emergencies and other type calls. This is more tree calls than we have had all year combined. Keep in mind this does not count the number of trees that were cut by first responders as they came up on them just to get to a location. We had close to 20 homes (reported) damaged. We have had one severe injury due to a tree falling on a female in her yard trying to clean up. Three individuals were taken to the hospital due to carbon dioxide poisoning.
All personnel continue to work to get these roads cleaned up for everyone. Schools are out until Monday due to the condition of the roads and power issues. We are probably 50/50 with power for the county. We were on generator here for a day and a half. Praise GOD for generators, hot showers, and coffee!
(feature photo/Tammy Wilcott Fontaine)
Updated 9/15/17 to reflect confirmed information that the woman struck by a falling tree was injured, not killed.
