After days of working around the clock clearing downed trees and power lines, crews with Habersham Electric Membership Corporation have completed their restoration efforts.
Early Wednesday the company announced service to its members has been completely restored.
Some 300 HEMC members remained without power Tuesday evening, two-and-a-half days after the power was knocked out by severe weekend weather. The outages were scattered throughout the cooperative’s six-county service area of Habersham, White, Rabun, Stephens, Lumpkin and Hall Counties.
HEMC more than doubled its normal construction workforce to tackle the storm damage, bringing in contractors and outside crews from Blue Ridge, Snapping Shoals and Walton EMCs.
Some customers were without power for the duration. The North Georgia Zoo in White County was among them. “This is the longest, most gruesome power outage we’ve ever been through,” said director and co-owner Hope Bennett.
The zoo used a back up generator to help the staff of 20 care for the more than 400 animals on the property. “We have not lost any animals. We do have a good emergency plan in place for times like this,” Bennett said.
Even with a good plan in place, the unpredictability and possibility of falling trees remained a concern. Bennett said there were two trees, in particular, that were leaning into each other and posed a serious threat to the zoo if they fell.
“If these trees fall they will fall on about four enclosures,” she said. While all of the animals were moved for their protection, the potential for damage to the zoo’s nursery and prep area concerned Bennett enough to start a social media campaign urging people to call the utility company to come check.
An HEMC crew arrived at the scene mid-afternoon Monday.
While things now appear to be back to normal, there’s still the possibility there could be more trouble. “Unfortunately, you cannot predict when trees in saturated ground will fall,” explains Nicole Dover of HEMC, “as it can happen without wind.”
Dover encourages HEMC members to report continued outages by phone (706) 754-2114, (706) 865-4362, (800) 640-6812 or online at habershamemc.com. Georgia Power customers may report outages online at georgiapower.com.
Updated 10/7/15 @ 9am
