Update: Georgia Power expects service to be restored to 95% of customers by Sunday night

Damage assessment from Hurricane Zeta continues as teams see extensive damage across the state

Electric service to nearly 490,000 Georgia Power customers has been restored following Hurricane Zeta.

As of 8 p.m. Thursday(Oct. 29), approximately 280,000 customers are without power across Georgia. The company expects power to be restored to 95% of customers impacted by Hurricane Zeta by Sunday night.

While the company continues to assess damage, customers in the hardest hit areas should plan ahead for the potential of extended outages, possibly days, due to the vast damage from the storm. Based on the impact of Hurricane Zeta across the Southeast and other storm activity in the country, the availability of additional resources from other utilities to assist with restoration efforts in Georgia is limited.

“This storm caused an incredible amount of damage across the state that we are working as quickly and safely as possible to assess,” said David Maske, Georgia Power Storm Center manager. “Multiple storms impacting the Southeast have strained assistance resources usually available to us, but our crews are working around the clock to get the lights back on. We appreciate our customers’ patience and their support in the coming days.”

Damage from Hurricane Zeta is similar to the damage seen after Hurricane Michael impacted Georgia in 2018. Damage includes broken poles, damaged transformers and numerous spans of wire down. Teams are also experiencing challenges including downed trees and roads blocked that must be cleared to enter certain areas. Damage assessment following widespread impacts from Hurricane Zeta continues across impacted areas around Georgia and must be completed as an essential step to efficiently and effectively allocate resources.

Regional restoration estimates will be available as soon as assessment work is completed.

Restoration progress since the beginning of the storm has been largely possible thanks to Georgia’s advanced electric grid, which allows the company to reroute and restore power even when weather conditions prevent work in the field, as well as early work of crews. All of Georgia Power’s teams are in the field today working to assess damage and restore power.

In the field, the power restoration process includes these key steps:

• Assessing Conditions – Responding crews – or in major storms, damage assessment teams – work to identify trouble spots and the resources needed to fix them, which could involve coming onto customers’ property. Crews will employ appropriate distancing efforts and customers are asked to keep children and pets indoors and maintain safe distances from crew members as well.
• Making Repairs – Georgia Power crews focus on repairs that return power to the greatest number of customers in the least amount of time.