Atlanta Weather
Atlanta Weather

100K without power in South Georgia even before Irma’s worst arrives

Fallen trees like this one in south Valdosta are causing power outages throughout the South Georgia ahead of Hurricane Irma's arrival.

Credit: Courtesy of Valdosta police

Credit: Courtesy of Valdosta police

Fallen trees like this one in south Valdosta are causing power outages throughout the South Georgia ahead of Hurricane Irma's arrival.
By Ben Brasch
Sept 11, 2017

With hours before the worst of Hurricane Irma hits South Georgia, the area has more than 100,000 customers without power.

The storm, which made landfall twice in Florida on Monday, is moving toward Georgia where it is expected to flooding and wind damage.

Georgia EMC said at 5 a.m. that its workers will start repairs once the most dangerous weather has passed.

Crews are heading to Georgia from as far as Iowa, Illinois and Oklahoma to get power back up, Georgia EMC said.

As of 5:40 a.m., there were also more than 81,000 Georgia Power customers being affected by outages, almost all in the southern part of the state.

About that time in Valdosta, sustained winds were at 35 mph with gusts of 47 mph, according to Lowndes County officials. The county expects 70 mph sustained winds with 80 mph gusts later in the day.

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Meteorologist Karen Minton has your Monday morning weather forecast.

About the Author

Ben Brasch is the reporter tasked with keeping Fulton County government accountable. The Florida native moved to Atlanta for a job with The AJC. If there's something important to you going on in Fulton, he wants to know about it. Help him better metro Atlanta by dropping a line, anonymously or otherwise.

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