Amicalola EMC hit hard by storms

Jackson EMC was not the only electric co-op in the area that took a hit from Saturday night’s storms.

Amicalola EMC (AEMC) got slammed at least twice and as of 8:00 Sunday morning till had more than 1,600 customers without power. And at 7:00 this morning it was still reporting a few outages – all in Lumpkin County. In addition to Lumpkin, its service area includes Dawson, Cherokee, Pickens, and Gilmer counties.

Meanwhile, Georgia News Network reports that parts of metro Atlanta and south Georgia were hit by storms on Sunday and power is still out in some of those places.

Well over 50,000 people lost power in the southern half of the state Sunday afternoon. Storms caused thousands more outages in the metro Atlanta area as well. But the outlook for widespread hazardous weather in Georgia is low for the rest of the week. 

EARLIER STORIES:

8 A.M. SUNDAY UPDATE:

Nearly all of Jackson EMC’s 264,000 members now have power.

“The remaining 13 outages, which impact 237 members, are being addressed,” spokeswoman Wendy Jones said Sunday morning. “Linemen have been working through the night and will continue working to restore outages as quickly as conditions and safety procedures allow until all outages are repaired.”

Jones added the electric co-op has restored power to more than 6,800 members since the storm struck Saturday evening.   

As of 7:50 a.m. remaining outages are impacting members in Barrow (203), Gwinnett (24) and Jackson (10) counties. 

For real-time outage information, see the outage map available here: www.jacksonemc.com/storm.   

(EDITOR’S NOTE: This was the third major summer storm to strike Hall County since early July. brackett | 97.5 Glory FM | North Georgia’s Family Radio Station (wgtjradio.com))

10 P.M. SATURDAY UPDATE: Jackson EMC is experiencing 132 outages affecting 4,223 members (down from over 7,000 earlier in the evening) across our service area as a result of thunderstorms that brought heavy rain and high winds to our service area.

“We have downed limbs and trees, as well as downed power lines and broken poles,” spokeswoman Wendy Jones said in electric co-op’s 10:00 p.m. update. “The Bethlehem area near Highway 11 in Barrow County and the Murrayville area near Highway 60 in Hall County both have extensive damage.” 

Jackson EMC linemen will continue working to restore outages as quickly as conditions and safety procedures allow until all outages are restored.  

As of 10:03 pm, we have outages in the following counties:   

  • Gwinnett 1,688 
  • Barrow 1,038 
  • Hall 682 
  • Jackson 424 
  • Banks 102  
  • Lumpkin 72 
  • Madison 62 

“Members of the public should take care while emergency repairs are underway,” Jones added. “Avoid downed power lines, and keep in mind that downed trees and limbs may be entangled with live power lines.”

You may report an outage to Jackson EMC by visiting outage.jacksonemc.com, using the MyJacksonEMC mobile app, or by calling 1-800-245-4044.  

Outage details are available on our outage map at outage.jacksonemc.com.  

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Among the 30 or so trees reported down in Hall County were ones on Highland Circle, East Lake drive, Jess Helton Road, and in the Chestatee Road/Summerlake area, according to postings on Facebook.)