We are grateful to the incredible men and women who have served and continue to serve. Please take note, all Amicalola EMC offices will be closed Monday, May 27, 2024 in observance of Memorial Day 🇺🇸
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Memorial Day – Office Closing
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Co-Ops Vote!
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Electrical Safety Month Continues with Power Line Safety Tips
As we continue to observe National Electrical Safety Month, here are some safety tips concerning power lines, especially downed power lines from ESFi.org. Remember to always assume a downed powerline is energize. Stay back to stay safe!
Safety Tips
- Look up before raising a ladder or pole to make sure that it will not come within 10 feet of any power lines.
- Use wooden or fiberglass ladders outdoors. Metal ladders conduct electricity.
- Contact your utility company immediately to report downed power lines outside your home.
- Always assume fallen power lines are energized. Stay at least ten feet away from a downed power line and any nearby objects it may be touching, such as a fence or a tree limb.
- Never touch a person who is in contact with a downed power line. Call 911 immediately.
- Downed power lines can carry an electric current strong enough to cause serious injury or even death. Electricity wants to move from a high voltage zone to a low voltage zone – and it could do that through your body.
Downed Power Line Safety Tips
- If you see a downed power line, move away from it and anything touching it. The ground around power lines – up to 35 feet away – may be energized.
- You cannot tell whether or not a power line is energized just by looking at it. You should assume that all downed power lines are live.
- The proper way to move away from the power line is to shuffle away with small steps, keeping your feet together and on the ground at all times. This will minimize the potential for a strong electric shock.
- If you see someone who is in direct or indirect contact with the downed line, do not touch the person. You could become the next victim. Call 911 for help.
- Do not attempt to move a downed power line or anything else in contact with it by using an object such as a broom or stick. Even non-conductive materials like wood or cloth, can conduct electricity if even slightly wet.
- Be careful not to touch or step in water near where a downed power line is located.
- Do not drive over downed power lines.
- If your car comes in contact with a downed power line while you are inside, stay in the car. Honk your horn to summon help, but direct others to stay away from your car.
- If you must leave your car because it is on fire, jump out of the vehicle with both feet together and avoid contact with both the car and the ground at the same time. Shuffle away from the car.
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Outage Update
Crews are still working diligently to get everyone’s power back on. It’s hard to find a spot on the outage viewer without a hard hat showing crews working nearby. Thank you for your patience as our crew members keep battling.
1:20 p.m. down to 473 members out, at 25 separate locations. Closing in!
2:46 p.m. We are down to 274 members who remain out. Quite a successful journey considering we had thousands of members out after the storm passed through Wednesday night into Thursday. Thank you all for your understanding and your support!
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Outage Update – Saturday, May 11, 2024 7:00 AM
Our crews continued to make progress late yesterday, and as of this morning we have 710 outages in 32 locations. The majority of the outages are in eastern Gilmer County in the Tickanetley, Bucktown, East New Hope, and Double Head Gap area. Other outages are scattered across the remainder of the county, with the biggest damage in the New Hope Club Road and Craigtown areas. There is one broken service pole in Pickens County, and one outage in Lumpkin County. As of now, we are only aware of one area that be cannot accessed due to the road being washed out, which is Nugget Lane in western Gilmer County. Once repairs are made to the road to give us access, we can change the broken poles there and restore service.
We still have 200 sets of boots on the ground working to restore power. Our hope is all power will be restored by the end of today, however in an outage of this magnitude it will likely be late as we know of more broken poles in the affected areas. This gets to be more dangerous for the crews, as they are working in smaller areas and close proximity to each other. Safety is our first concern, but repairs will continue to be made as quickly as is safely possible.
Please remember to stay away from any downed power lines. Always assume they are energized. And once again, thank you for your patience and support!
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Storm Photos
Kent & Kelly Buckner, Roy Road in Gilmer County, shared these photos with us. Kelly works in our Accounting Department.
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Updates
7:55 p.m. Update: we are now down to 1679 members out at 49 locations. That is noteworthy, especially since our confirmed broken pole count is now at 32!
8:10 p.m. Changing quickly at times now… 1267 members out now.
8:18 p.m. 1152 members out now
8:32 p.m. Down to 1087 members out at 42 locations. So thankful for all our hardworking AEMC crew members and those who came from out of town to help us!
9:39 p.m. Getting closer! 1004 outages at 27 locations currently out.
9:50 p.m. 985 members out! Crews are working hard!
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Storm Update – 200 sets of boots on the ground
The breakdown of our current outage count is Cherokee 231, Gilmer 2148, Lumpkin 30, Murray 3 and Pickens 1 for a total of 2413 members out. These are spread among 60 separate locations within these 5 counties. As you know, when there is this much destruction to the area, the restoration time can be lengthy. Please know that the crew members in the field are doing everything they can to restore all power as soon as is safely possible. The work is progressing a little slower than we would prefer, but there are strict safety protocols which must be met to ensure everyone gets to return home to their families safe and sound.We have around 100 contractors and crew members from our sister EMCs in Georgia out working in our service area. We have the same number of Amicalola EMC employees working. That’s 200 sets of boots on the ground working for the members of Amicalola EMC.We know it is a hardship on our members to be without electricity. We urge you to use caution when you are dealing with alternative sources of energy to cook with, do necessary chores, etc.Our communities took a hard hit and we are working hard to put it back together. Stay away from any downed power lines and always assume they are still energized.There are also online resources available at www.redcross.org to assist you in various situations such as if your home has flooded, etc. Helpful information may also be found at www.ready.gov. -
Outage Update – Friday, May 10, 2024 7:00 PM
We are currently down to 2,400 outages at 58 separate locations. Crews have continued to work diligently today as we’ve face lots of downed power lines, broken poles, and, at times, inaccessible roads. Thank you all for your patience!Remember, never go near a downed power line, always assume they are energized. You may view outages in real time at www.amicalolaemc.com. You may report outages to our automated outage management system at 706-253-0359 OR 706-273-0359 OR 706-864-0359. -
Outage Update – Friday, May 10, 2024 10:00 AM
Our crews are working hard to restore power across our service area. Currently we have 4,821 outages in 102 separate locations. The count of broken poles continues to rise.
At this time, we have confirmed details regarding the following areas:
- Big Creek Rd, Doublehead Gap, Roy Rd and Bucktown – These areas have 3+ broken 3 phase poles
- Owltown, Blackberry Mtn and 52 to Maple Village – Several broken poles have been found in the area of Mt Zion. The exact number is not yet confirmed
- Pike Rd – At least 4 broken poles
- Ridgeway Church Rd – Multiple broken 3 phase poles
- Woodbridge Dr, Crooked Ct and Nugget Ln out HWY 282 – Multiple broken single phase poles
- Craigtown and Pike Rd area – Several broken poles, with an exact number not yet confirmed
Parts of Dawson, Lumpkin, Murray and Pickens County are experiencing a smaller number of outages, which have been accessed and crews are working to restore the power as soon as is safely possible.
In addition to our Amicalola EMC crew members, thanks to our statewide mutual aid agreement, the following sister EMCs have sent assistance to us: Carroll EMC, Coweta-Fayette EMC, and Snapping Shoals EMC. We also have multiple crews from PIKE Electric and MasTec.
Thank you for your patience as we continue to strive to get everyone’s power restored. Please remember to stay away from any downed power lines and always assume they are still energized. Please report all outages to one of the following numbers: 706-253-0359 OR 706-276-0359 OR 706-864-0359.