Thousands here still without electricity

Published 10:42 pm Thursday, October 11, 2018

MOULTRIE, Ga. — Thousands of Colquitt County residents remained without power on Thursday, and for some it may be several days before the lights — and air conditioning and freezers — are back on.

As of about 5:30 p.m., Colquitt EMC, the largest electrical provider in the county, had about 18,000 customers off-line in its seven-county area. That was down from 34,000 Thursday morning, a company news release said.

“Throughout the day, crews have encountered hundreds of downed trees in roadways and on power lines which must be removed before work begins,” the release said. “Service personnel are working to repair extensive damage to power  lines, power poles and equipment caused by the high winds of Hurricane Michael.”

Crews from Okefenoke REMC turned out to assist local workers.

Because of the extensive damage, it could be a few days before all customers are restored.

About 3,000 City of Moultrie utility customers lost power, with about a third of those having electrical service restored over the course of the day. Crews expect to restore power to several hundred over the course of Thursday night and hope to have the majority back on by Friday.

Some Moultrie customers may be without power until Saturday.

Georgia Power, which serves a much smaller area of Colquitt County, had about 1,500 customers without power as of Thursday afternoon, a spokeswoman said, and is restoring service “as quickly and safely as possible.”