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Steps to restoring power
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Power restoration Update, Friday July 21 8:30 am
Our current outage count is at 13,261, down from almost 26,000 outages reported last night, however these outages are spread across over 200 separate locations. We do expect this to be a multiple day event in some areas and the following information is part of an assessment report from this morning. We have found 30 to 35 broken poles thus far. We do expect this number to continue to rise.
Headquarters (Jasper and surrounding areas):
- There is a transmission line out to one of our substations which serves over 1200 members in the Kelly Bridge Road, Lovelady Road, Yellow Creek, Stancil’s Store, Eagle’s Nest, Cowart Road and Chumbley Road areas. There are also multiple broken distribution poles that have to be replaced.
- In Bent Tree, there are several trees on the line and some broken poles on Cove Road that affects Bent Tree and Grandview Road.
- Jerusalem area has several broken poles.
- Salacoa area has at least one broken pole, trees on lines, etc.
- Clayton area has multiple broken poles and appears to be one of the hardest areas hit in terms of our service area.
Northern District (Ellijay):
- Highway 382 there are a couple of broken poles and multiple lines down.
- Highway 282 has multiple trees on lines and lines down.
- Clear Creek area has multiple trees on lines and lines down.
Eastern District (Dahlonega):
- One broken service pole and in the Duffy Grizzle area there are a few spans of lines torn down.
Crews have worked through the night and we are in the process of obtaining additional help from unaffected areas as soon as they can be released. Thank you for your patience and additional information will be released once it becomes available. (See below, photo showing trees across power lines, this has occurred across much of our service area. The other photo is our current outage map.
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Restoration Update – Thursday, July 20 8:40 pm
Currently, we have 20,915 members without power at 196 separate locations. Our crews are assessing damages, cutting trees off power lines and in some cases having to clear roadways to get to the downed power lines. This restoration effort will be time and labor intensive but all power will be restored as soon as is safely possible.
Please report any power outages to 706-253-0359 OR 706-276-0359 OR 706-864-0359. This is the most efficient way to report an outage and make sure it is recorded in our outage management system.
Please remember our website and facebook page is not monitored 24 hours a day and is not designed for outage reporting. Outage reporting should be done to the numbers listed above. Any updates will be shared just as soon as information is available.
Please remember to stay away from any downed power lines. In situations like this, when the wind has blown down trees on power lines and poles have been broken, it is extremely dangerous. Exercise extreme caution when traveling and do not drive over any downed power lines.
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High winds and severe thunderstorms cause widespread power outages
Severe thunderstorms and high winds resulted in thousands of power outages late this afternoon. Currently 21,967 members are experiencing power outages across all counties in our service area except Forsyth.
URGENT! Please stay away from downed power lines – do not go near them and always assume they are still energized. This warning also includes NO DRIVING ACROSS DOWNED POWER LINES. Report any downed power lines to 911, then report them to us using our outage management system via the following numbers: 706-253-0359 OR 706-276-0359 OR 706-864-0359.
Our crews are assessing damages so that a power restoration plan may be put into action quickly. In storms of this nature, with hundreds of trees and tree limbs blown down, restoration will first involve clearing trees from roadways so crews can get in to see the damages. Once trees are cleared off the power lines, lines can be put back up and broken poles can be replaced. We are already aware of many downed lines, some broken poles and other damages to our system.
Thank you for your understanding and patience as we work to restore all power as soon as is safely possible. Please pray for the safety of our line workers as well as the safety of all our affected members and their families.