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Nearly 30% of people in White County without power
White County officials are working to restore power after a winter stormed caused one-third of customers there to lose electricity.
WHITE COUNTY, Ga. - Nearly half of White County is without power following a significant ice storm that brought half an inch of ice to the region.
Half of White County without power
What we know:
Almost 50% of customers in White County were without power at 11:45 a.m. Saturday, tying it with Rabun County for the area with the highest percentage of power outages in the state.
The outages started after the county received about half an inch of ice overnight as a winter storm moved through Georgia, according to Don Strength, the county's emergency services division chief. According to utility companies, about 8,800 customers were without power, which makes up 49% of the county's electric customers.
White County battling power outages
What they're saying:
Strength said the county has responded to numerous downed trees, which also took down power lines and started fires. He said nobody has been injured, but it is causing the power grid to collapse "quickly." He noted that crews are working to get the power restored, but the chance of a second round could cause them to start over.
"We are very lucky in that we have relief crews from all over the country that are staged right here in White County. That’s assisting Georgia Power and Habersham Electric to get the power back up. They have been somewhat successful in some of the bigger, harder-hit areas this morning. My fear is we’re going to lose it all again tonight," Strength said.
Strength said the best thing people can do is stay off the roads.
"So, what everyone needs to do is stay where you are. White County has done a phenomenal job in staying off of the roads, and from a public safety standpoint, we greatly appreciate that," Strength said. "The further up the mountain you go, the worse everything is. Stay at home, shelter in place, and hopefully we can get through this thing."
White County warming shelters
What you can do:
People without power can find warming shelters at the White County Park and Recreation Department and at Helen's City Hall.
The Source: This article was written by Sam Daniel based off information from poweroutage.us which pulls data from power companies and a FOX 5 interview between Alex Forbes and White County public safety employee Don Strength.