Coweta-Fayette EMC Urges Preparation for Hurricane Irma Impact

PALMETTO, Ga. – Coweta-Fayette Electric Membership Corporation’s (EMC) is a long way from the suspected landfall of Hurricane Irma. However, there is a possibility of significant impacts to our electric system depending on the path and how strong Hurricane Irma remains when the storm reaches our service territory.

The National Weather Service out of Peachtree City has advised no matter if Irma goes east, west or straight up the spine of Florida, Georgia is going to experience strong winds. Strong winds coupled with saturated soils will cause large numbers of trees to topple.

“Coweta-Fayette EMC urges all electric customer-owners to prepare now before Irma reaches our area,” said Chellie Phillips, vice president of communications and public relations. “If you wait until the bad weather starts, it’s too late. Our crews are prepared and we have supplies on hand. We urge our members to pay attention to local media outlets and to the EMC social media feeds for updated information. If outages do occur, you can track the affected areas through our outage map located in the storm center section of our website, www.utility.org.”

Check these areas to see if you’re ready:

• If power lines and poles are down in your yard or in the street, always treat them as if they are energized and dangerous.  Never touch them and stay away.  Make sure to call Coweta-Fayette at 770-502-0226.
• Debris from the storm can hide power lines that have fallen.  Fallen trees that contain energized power lines can electrocute any item it meets, such as a metal fence, a pond or standing water.  Even the ground can be energized near fallen power lines.
• If your electricity is out, make sure to check with neighbors to see if they have power. If they have power, you may have blown a fuse or tripped a breaker.  Never replace a fuse or reset a circuit breaker with wet hands or while standing on a wet (or damp) surface.
• If you’re without electricity and want to use a portable generator, make sure to use it in a well-ventilated area.

Remember to check the Coweta-Fayette EMC website (www.utility.org) and follow our Facebook or Twitter feed for updated information should we experience outages due to Irma.

Coweta-Fayette EMC is a member-owned energy company, serving over 82,000 accounts, headquartered in Palmetto, Ga.