Georgia Power and regional electric cooperatives have restored power to most of their customers left in the dark by Monday’s windy winter storm. Approximately three thousand remained without power Tuesday evening, mostly in White and Rabun counties.
Crews worked have been working nonstop to get the lights and heat back on across Georgia following the storm. The state’s largest utility said it would have service fully restored by the end of Tuesday.
Georgia Power released a statement saying its “crews in the field have worked through the night to complete restoration. The remaining outages in east and northeast Georgia will be restored today [Jan. 4].”
HEMC has not given a timeline for full restoration, but the local cooperative has made progress, restoring service to around 13,000 members in its six-county service area. The vast majority of HEMC’s remaining outages are in White County where a large number of trees fell.
The power outages began shortly after 4 a.m. January 3 as winds gusted between 40 to 50 mph. An official reading near Dahlonega clocked one gust at 49 mph.
The storm left a trail of damage across northern Georgia, toppling trees, downing power lines and blocking roadways. Flooding from heavy rains forced several bridges to close in Habersham County.
Several state highways in the region were temporarily blocked by fallen trees, a large number of them in the Sautee Nacoochee area where many residents remained without power Tuesday.
Five homes in White County were damaged by fallen trees, but there were no injuries reported, according to White County Public Safety Director David Murphy.
Cleanup shifted on Tuesday from making roads passable to clearing debris. As big of a mess as the storm left, the biggest impact was by far the power outages.
The storm broke 30 HEMC power poles, which significantly slowed restoration efforts. At the height of the storm, over 45% of HEMC’s members were without electricity.
There are still downed trees and power lines across parts of northern Georgia and electric providers remind the public to remain vigilant. Avoid downed lines and cables and treat all lines as if they are energized.
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Last updated 1/4/2022 @ 8:15am
