Thousands of people lost power this week after violent thunderstorms caused massive outages across the state. Around 900 people are still without electricity.
This has become an all too familiar problem for Georgians. Georgia is among the top 10 states with the most common outages and ranks fifth in outage duration. The state’s electrical grid ranks 29th nationally.
With climate change leading to more severe weather, this issue is unlikely to resolve itself any time soon and more thunderstorms are forecast for the next week.
With this in mind, Georgia Power has published guidelines advising customers on what to do in the event of a power outage.
Electrical safety tips during storms
1. Never touch dropped or low-hanging wires.
2. Never pull branches from power, telephone, or wire lines or attempt to repair electrical equipment damaged by a storm.
3. Never go near chain link fences – dropped power lines or lightning strikes can electrify the entire length of the fence.
4. Avoid walking through flooded areas or puddles as they may be electrified by fallen power lines.
5. Never enter areas where personnel are working. Please do not approach the crews as they are safely doing their important jobs.
6. When driving near work teams, obey the “move-over law,” which requires drivers to change lanes whenever possible when a commercial vehicle with warning lights displayed is parked at the curb.
If you are experiencing a power outage, you can report it here and follow the status of the power outage response here and on the Georgia Power Twitter feed.
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Madison Auchincloss is an editorial intern at Rough Draft Atlanta and a graduate student at the University of Michigan. More from Madison Auchincloss
