Based on reports from Amicalola EMC, it appears Dawson, Pickens, Gilmer, and Cherokee counties suffered the most serious damage from the storm that slammed into Hall County early Monday.
AMICALOLA EMC FACEBOOK POST:
“We have found several broken poles and downed trees on power lines all over Pickens, Gilmer, northern Cherokee and west Dawson. The Nelson/Tate area was hit hard. Blue Ridge Ave in Nelson has a lot of damage and potentially several broken poles.
Hwy 53 around Philadelphia Rd in Jasper has multiple trees on power lines. Crews are working in these areas now. We have found multiple broken cross arms in the Jerusalem area towards Ryo, but are still accessing damage in this area.
In Gilmer County Roberts Ridge Rd has multiple trees on power lines that our right of way crews have worked to remove. Line crews will be repairing those as soon as is safely possible.
In Dawson County there is a broken 3 phase pole on Hwy 183 west of Afton Rd along with a broken single phase pole. Power lines are also down at Fausett Lake and Sassafras Mtn.
A total of 143 outages are affecting 5,542 members.
Along with our Amicalola EMC and Pike crews, we have outside crews on the way from Washington EMC, Pike Cobb and Jackson, Snapping Shoals EMC, Middle Georgia EMC, Central Georgia EMC and North Georgia EMC.”
HALL COUNTY
At the height of Monday’s storm Hall County officials reported four trees down, one involving powerlines. Then, late in the day a tree came down on Hancock Avenue, blocking the road and bringing down powerlines and closing the road (pictured). Power company crews were kept busy for most of the day restoring power, with Hall County the hardest hit among those in the Jackson EMC service area. Most of the outages in the county were in the East Hall area.
The top wind gust at the Gainesville airport was recorded just before 7:00 a.m. – 39 miles-an-hour. Rainfall at the airport for the day measured just under an inch.
Gainesville’s Memorial Day parade, scheduled to step off at 10:00 was delayed and then canceled – and within an hour of it being called off, the sun broke through, and it remained mostly sunny and rain-free the rest of the day.
Meanwhile, the sheriff’s office honor guard held its annual vigil as planned at Memorial Park Cemetery South, though it started late because of the thunderstorms, and the late morning ceremony was delayed by rain.
(Amacalola EMC photo.)