UPDATE: Schools to open Friday; many customers still without electricity
Published 1:15 pm Thursday, August 31, 2023
- City work crews clear debris from Hurricane Idalia.
Originally posted 10:55 a.m. Aug. 31, 2023
Updated 1:15 p.m. Aug. 31, 2023
MOULTRIE — The community is beginning to get back to normal following the arrival of Hurricane Idalia Wednesday, but some places still have a ways to go.
Colquitt County Schools confirmed early Thursday afternoon that classes will resume Friday morning. The schools and school district offices were closed Wednesday and Thursday due to the storm.
Schools will be closed again on Monday for the Labor Day holiday.
Colquitt EMC President and CEO Danny Nichols posted a letter on the company’s Facebook page Thursday morning that said 45,000 of its customers are without power. The company’s outage map shows more than half of those are in the Valdosta service area, which appears to have been the hardest hit area in Georgia.
If you observe or sustain personal or property damage, or if you see downed power lines, please call 911 and report it.
If you sustain a power outage, please contact your local utility company (see below).
Two options for reporting other non-emergency events include E-911’s non-emergency number, (229) 616-7470, or the Colquitt County Sheriff’s Office, (229) 616-7430.
For power outages:
• Colquitt EMC: 1-855-293-1804 or use the outage app.
• Georgia Power: 1-888-891-0938 or use the outage app.
• City of Moultrie: (229) 668-6000.
• City of Doerun: (229) 529-4492.
• City of Norman Park: (229) 769-3611.
For downed trees, water over the road or road washouts:
• County Road and Bridge: (229)616-7480.
• Moultrie Public Works: (229) 668-5423.
• Georgia Department of Transportation: (229) 891-7130.
Only about 5,100 customers in the Moultrie service area are still without power this morning, the map says. That’s about half the number affected as of late Wednesday afternoon.
“In addition to our in-house crews, we have additional contract and mutual aid crews arriving this morning,” Nichols wrote. “So, in addition to the 100 personnel we currently have, we will have 180 more personnel working to resolve the outage.
“Some additional good news: Yesterday 7 of our 29 substations were without transmission service, but as of this morning that number has been reduced to two substations without service (one in Valdosta and one in Nashville),” his letter said. “Georgia Transmission and Georgia Power crews are working to establish service to those two substations this morning. By restoring transmission service to those 5 substations, a significant number of meters have been restored.
“Given that today is the first full day of work after Idalia, we expect significant progress to be made today,” Nichols wrote.
Georgia Power’s outage map shows 286 of its customers in Colquitt County still without electricity. That’s down from more than 1,600 on Wednesday afternoon.
The City of Moultrie had restored electricity to all of its customers as of 2 a.m. Thursday, City Manager Pete Dillard said. At one point about 800 Moultrie customers were without power.
Garbage pickup, which had been interrupted by the storm, is back on schedule, he said.
“Cleanup is moving along and it looks like a new day,” Dillard said, but her added that it will take a week or two to completely clear debris from the storm.
Cherry Avenue near Second Street Southeast remained closed Thursday morning, but the City of Moultrie Facebook page said it should be cleared before the end of the day.
Colquitt County Emergency Management Director Justin Cox said county workers are also “in cleanup mode,” cutting up fallen trees and hauling debris to the landfill.
Cox said the crews are basically following Colquitt EMC utility crews. As EMC clears power lines, the county crews move in to remove the debris.
The Arts Center of Moultrie posted to its Facebook page that it will also be closed Thursday.
Colquitt Regional Medical Center canceled elective surgeries and procedures on Wednesday and the affiliated Sterling Center physicians’ offices were closed. The hospital announced Thursday morning that both would resume normal schedules.
