800,000 Still Without Power in Metro Atlanta

 

 

While crews scramble to restore power in metro Atlanta and across Georgia, it was good to spot this Georgia Power truck in the area!!

Other signs of normalcy as the winds and rain decrease:  the U.S. Post Office has resumed mail delivery, MARTA buses are back in service, and Xfinity (cable company) is out handling cable outages.

While many are venturing out, it is still treacherous with so many areas still without power.  Those headed back to Florida are being warned there are no hotel rooms and availability of gas between South Georgia and Orlando is not good. So, stay put where you are to give service crews more time to safely clear ALL roadways. The more cars out on the streets, the less safe it is for  GDOT, GA Power and service crews to restore

According to the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) Commissioner today on NPR radio 90.1FM (via my battery powered radio), there are about 150 traffic signals still in need of being repaired or replaced.  There are still trees in roadways and power lines down creating dangerous situations. Georgia Power says every region in the state has had outages and they have over 6,000 people out working to restore service which could still take up to a week to get everyone’s restored.

My friends in West End and my cousin in East Point had their power restored early morning or late afternoon, yet now their internet is down.  Meanwhile, I am patiently waiting and praying for my power to be restored before dark.

Stay safe.

Tropical Storm Irma Pics

In these three pics, we see a huge tree that fell away from the house earlier today. This homeowner on DeLowe Drive must have a guardian angel!

In anticipation of today’s severe weather, a state of emergency was called in Georgia for today and tomorrow.  With that comes the closing of all schools (K-12), colleges and universities, state and local government offices, and most businesses.  Many of which are without power today.

Power has been out in large sections of metro Atlanta, including my home, with few exceptions. The latest report is 1.4 million metro residents are without power until tomorrow. That includes traffic signals being out and those intersections being treated as a four-way stop.

Continuous heavy rain and high winds make driving conditions extremely dangerous.

While generators are busy keeping Home Depot on Research Drive, near Cascade Road and I-285, they are already out of most battery sizes.  Others areas around Lithonia, Decatur, Greenbriar Mall, Ben Hill, Campbellton Road, and East Point are in the dark. That includes the local 24-hour Kroger at Greenbriar.  😦

Both the Citco and Valero gas stations at DeLowe Drive and Allison Court were open for business.

To the delight of locals who dared to venture out driving to find batteries, flashlights, candles and food after it was announced that power may not be restored until tomorrow because there are so many trees down on powers lines.  And, some of our power company people may have been sent to the Florida and Georgia (Jekyll Island, Savannah) east coasts before it was known that Irma would turn to cause destruction along the West Florida Coast (Tampa, St. Petersburg, Ft. Myers) and the pan handle.

Then Irma, continued north and died down to a “tropical storm” as it travelled across Georgia today.  It has lowered temperatures to the low 60’s, packed 40-60mph winds blowing torrential rain sideways, saturating tree roots, and loosening the ground around top-heavy trees that easily fell over.  Unfortunately, two people have died from this so far.  One person was in their car while the other was in their home when the trees came crashing down.

Hunker down in place, relax, and stay safe!