The total number of customers without power in Georgia is on the decline as crews speed up their battle with downed lines during the daylight hours.
A total of about 188,000 customers are without power in North Georgia between the state's largest utility, Georgia Power, and Georgia's Electric Membership Cooperatives, according to data released at about 9:45 a.m.
Georgia Power said on its outage map that it is has about 73,000 outages as of 9:45 a.m., that's down from 92,000 at before 5 this morning.
The Georgia EMCs reported it has reduced its number of outages to 115,000, down from about 134,000 earlier today. The bulk of outages have been reported in hard hit areas north of I-85 in Northeast Georgia. But many outages also exist east of Atlanta through the Ga. 316 corridor to Athens and points farther east of the Classic City.
Earlier this morning, Georgia Power spokesman Brian Green said that in "the past 24 hours, Georgia Power has restored power service to more than 90,000 customers throughout the state."
The company has 3,500 people working in response to repair storm damage, he said in a news release.
Terri Statham, a spokeswoman for Georgia EMC, said damage from major accumulations has occurred across Forsyth, Hall, Gwinnett, Dawson, Lumpkin, Cherokee, Pickens, Jackson, Banks, Rabun, Stephens and White counties.
"EMC crews from across the state, additional contract crews and other right-of-way crews are assisting with extensive repairs and tree removal which has plagued this portion of the state," Statham said in a news release. "In many cases, power crews have been forced to cut their way into areas in order to begin work on downed lines."
Additional coverage: Icing knocks out power to thousands, threatens Tuesday morning commute
About the Author
