“The state is making all resources available to our local partners to assist with damage assessment, cleanup and restoration efforts,” Deal said Thursday. “We will continue working with GEMHSA and local EMAs to ensure the safety and well-being of our residents in the affected areas.”
The declaration came following assessments by the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency officials and local Emergency Management Agencies.
Earlier Thursday, Albany officials said that it could be up to a week — and significantly longer than that in some isolated cases — before power is restored to some parts of Albany.
Albany officials held a news conference Thursday morning to update the public on the estimated restoration of power to areas of the city that have been without electricity since Monday night. City manager Sharon Subadan said because of significant damage to six of the city’s substations, restoration of power would take longer than had been anticipated. Officials had hoped to have it back up before subfreezing temperatures hit late Saturday.
She said estimated repair time to the damaged power substations range from one to 14 days.
“Yesterday was an opportunity for us to really get out and determine the extent of the damage and to assess what level of effort will be required to restore power,” Subadan said. “Power restoration is our highest priority. Upon further review, it does appear it will take significantly longer than this weekend to get power restored. We have identified the zones that are still out of power. The good news is we have over 100 linemen here on the ground with their equipment, diligently working to help restore full power in as little time as possible.
“But in reality, that time will be three to seven days in some instances and in some isolated cases it my be significantly longer. I appreciate the patience of our community and the outpouring of support. We have a very coordinated partnership on the ground with all hands on deck, making sure we emphasize and prioritize restoration of power. But our efforts are very challenging and complicated.”
The National Weather Service is forecasting lows of 26 Saturday night and 25 Sunday night, with winds further dropping the apparent temperatures to the low 20s and possibly the high teens. That will be the coldest weather of the season, with highs topping out below 50 degrees both days, and it will follow showers that are expected this evening and early Saturday.
Officials say the storm damage inside the city limits was caused by straight-line winds that reached speeds of up to 85 mph, toppling trees and downing power and utility lines. Justin Pullin, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s office in Tallahassee, confirmed Thursday that a tornado believed to be an EF1 touched down in northeast Dougherty County.
The damage in Albany, he said, was “straight-line wind damage.” The tornado touched down “within a mile of the Worth County border.” He said the Weather Service is still calculating the length and width of the swath left by the twister, the sixth confirmed in Southwest Georgia.
Two deaths — one in Albany and one in Turner County — have been associated with the high winds. Four people died in Geneva County, Ala., Monday night when a mobile home was destroyed.
Assistant City Manager Phil Roberson said Thursday in many ways the storm’s damage to the city’s power grid is worse even than the Flood of 1994.
“We have an area east of Cromartie Beach to just west of Lockett Station Road three to five miles wide in some areas,” Roberson said. “Some areas were affected more than others, and in some areas it’s just total devastation — particularly in the streets and alleys. In those areas, you not only have transmission lines, but also primary and secondary transmission lines affected. What that means is in those areas, we have to go in and basically rebuild all of the electrical infrastructure.
“What makes it difficult is that you have to go in and build like for a new subdivision, but you have to deal with the trees, all the poles and the wires. Take Merry Acres as an example. We were only able to get in there late yesterday morning to actually survey the damage because of all the trees in the roadways.”
Subadan and Mayor Dorothy Hubbard reminded homeowners impacted by the storm to be careful in their individual cleanup efforts.
“Someone who was cleaning up their property yesterday accidentally cut through a major Mediacom cable, leaving many in their neighborhood who did have electricity without access to reports like these,” the city manager said. “Please use extreme caution.”
Late Thursday afternoon, Georgia Department of Transportation announced that all lanes on the Liberty Expressway, the major route crossing the Flint River, had been opened.
Carlton Fletcher and Jim Hendricks contributed to this report.
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