“Y’all are going to have your work cut out for you today,” was the opening statement of GEMA Operations Chief Joe McKinney.
With hundreds of thousands still without power across the state and possibility of more challenges, the Georgia Emergency Management Agency operations center will continue focusing on the hardest hit areas on Thursday.
By 7 .a.m there were about 344,000 customers without electricity, including 100,000 added overnight. At the same time, 402,000 homes and businesses have been restored.
But power losses also meant a loss of water in areas that depend on wells.
Overnight, crews were dispatched to deliver generators, to make welfare checks and to remove debris that brought down power lines or were blocking critical roadways.
Almost 600 National Guard soldiers have been called out with most of them focusing on areas east of Atlanta to Augusta, which is one of the hardest hit areas.
Lt. Col. Mike Hulsey said soldiers sent to the Augusta area faced an additional “challenge” because the armory there, which was the staging area for operations around Richmond County, was also without power, like thousands of others.
Overnight 129 people took refuge at 28 shelters around the state, including state parks and local armories.
Though many nursing homes have back up generators some needed help overnight, including one in Jefferson County and another in Monroe County that were waiting for generators to operate heat.
Crews went to a nursing home in Burke County after a frantic woman called because she had not heard from 93-year-old mother. The facility had lost power at 8 a.m. Wednesday but she was fine, it was reported at the briefing.
“We’re still trying to talk her into a shelter,” said the operations center representative from the group tracking power outages. “I don’t know if we’re going to win.”
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