TUCKER, Ga. – As of 5 a.m., EMCs are reporting approximately 466,000 customers without power, down from 537,000 last evening. Tropical-force winds, torrential downpours and the sheer size of Irma resulted in extensive damage to the electric infrastructure.
On Monday, outage numbers grew throughout the day as dangerous weather made its way across the state. No area in Georgia was left untouched. Early in the day outages occurred across south Georgia, but it became clear rather quickly that damage would be felt by EMC members throughout the state.
Since yesterday, EMCs have been battling tough conditions and working to repair severe damage to power lines, power poles and other equipment. Local crews have been joined by hundreds of out-of-state crews, and more are expected to arrive today and tomorrow. They will work side-by-side with local EMCs to make outage repairs as quickly as safety practices and conditions allow.
Customers should report power outages by contacting their local EMC and stay away from downed lines and report them immediately to their local utility or call 911.
Georgia EMC is the statewide trade association representing the state’s 41 EMCs, Oglethorpe Power Corp., Georgia Transmission Corp. and Georgia System Operations Corp. Collectively, Georgia’s customer-owned EMCs provide electricity and related services to 4.4 million people, half of Georgia’s population, across 73 percent of the state’s land area.
Note: Another update will be provided at 10 a.m. today. Meanwhile, for the latest outage information, go to https://georgiaemc.com/storm-center/current-outages.