Gainesville city officials were breathing a sigh of relief Friday as they issued their final report on Hurricane Helene.
“The City of Gainesville, Georgia is pleased, and relieved, to report it experienced minimal impacts from Hurricane Helene overnight Thursday into Friday,” spokeswoman Christina Santee wrote in an email. “Though the City was extremely prepared for the worst-case scenario, we are fortunate in that there were limited emergency needs from public safety and public works personnel.”
The Public Works Department spent part of Friday working to address about a dozen downed trees, most of which involved power lines,” Santee added. “Unfortunately, crews must wait for the utility provider to deactivate the lines before they can clear the debris.” In addition, the city had a few traffic signals that were on battery backup, and one was on a generator.
The police and fire departments also experienced limited impacts. They did respond to one wreck with serious injuries which occurred when “a rather substantial tree” fell on a vehicle, trapping the occupants. This occurred around 5:00 Friday morning in the Jesse Jewell Parkway/Downey Boulevard area.
“Finally,” Santee wrote, “we understand many remain without electricity. A gentle reminder the City is unable provide updates regarding power restoration in your area. To report an outage, whether residential and/or commercial, please contact your utility provider.”