Georgia Power crews respond to severe storms moving across the state

Approximately 8,000 customers impacted by outages, fallen trees, downed power lines

ATLANTA –As waves of severe weather continue to cross the state, Georgia Power crews are facing recurring damage from high winds, heavy rain, lightning and tornadoes that have led to fallen trees, damaged equipment and downed power lines. As of late afternoon, crews were in the field working to restore power to approximately 8,000 customers impacted by the storms.

As crews work to assess damage and make repairs, they are finding broken poles, broken wire, damage caused by lightning strikes and limbs on lines. Crew have been forced to find shelter with worsening weather. Customers may follow @GeorgiaPower on Twitter and at www.GeorgiaPower.com/Storm for storm tips, information about restoration efforts, customer service and more.

Severe weather also is expected through Tuesday. Saturated soil means wind gusts are likely to bring down trees that could cause additional outages, officials said.

Georgia Power customers are encouraged to prepare, stay weather aware and keep safety in mind. The company has developed a series of storm videos addressing customers’ frequently asked questions about storm response and restoration that can be found here.

After the Storm Safety Tips

• Watch for downed wires.Downed power lines may be hidden by debris or fallen trees.
• Never touch any downed wire or attempt to remove tree branches from power lines – it can kill.
• Don’t step in standing water or saturated ground where downed lines may be present.They could be electrified.
• Avoid chain link fences.They may be electrified by a downed line out of sight and conduct electricity over great distances.
• Watch for Georgia Power crews working across the state.If driving, move over one lane for utility vehicles stopped on the side of the road – it’s the law in Georgia.
• Protect electronics and appliances.Disconnect or turn off any appliances that will start automatically when power returns to avoid overloading circuits when power is restored.

Georgia Power continues to monitor changing weather conditions as severe weather is predicted over the coming days and shares the following tools for severe weather preparedness.

Tools You Can Use

• @GeorgiaPower on Twitter – Follow @GeorgiaPower on Twitter for storm tips, outage updates, customer service and more.
• Outage Alerts – Subscribe to the free Georgia Power Outage Alert service to receive personalized notifications and updates via text message.
• Outage & Storm Center –Available at www.georgiapower.com/storm, customers can visit this site to sign up for Outage Alerts, report and check the status of outages, and access useful safety tips and information. Customers can report and check the status of an outage 24 hours a day by contacting Georgia Power at 888-891-0938.
• Outage Map –Housed within the Outage & Storm Center, Georgia Power’s interactive Outage Map provides near real-time information, allowing users to see where outages are occurring across the state and track estimated restoration times.
• Georgia Power Mobile App – Download the Georgia Power mobile app for Apple and Android devices to access storm and outage information on the go.