Cover photo: a crew digs a hole to replace a broken pole after dark Friday night. Photo by S. Pritchett.
Final storm overview:
A quickly-moving severe front and high winds throughout the day left 17,000 members without power in more than 250 separate outage events scattered throughout our seven-county service area. The storm toppled numerous trees, downed multiple spans of line, and broke approximately 20 power poles across NGEMC's service area.
Crews worked around the clock from the time of the storm on Friday afternoon until late Saturday night to rebuild portions of the system and restore all power. We were assisted by emergency relief crews from Cobb EMC, Central Georgia EMC, and MPS, and we are grateful for their service.
As your neighbors, we understand the many challenges you face when your electricity is interrupted. We appreciate your patience during the power restoration process. We consider it a privilege to be your power provider. If you have feedback or would like to speak with our Member Services team, please
Restoration progress notes:
Crews are focusing on the final remaining isolated outages and the last few broken poles to complete the full restoration process. NGEMC is grateful for your patience, expressions of appreciation, and prayers for the safety of all the incredible crews. Friday's storms brought devastation to our entire region causing more than 100,000 power outages throughout the Southeast.
What Mother Nature can bring down in minutes takes time to rebuild. A big shout out to all the crews and vegetation management team members for their excellent work! A special thanks to Cobb EMC, Central Georgia EMC, and MPS for joining the effort and keeping our communities bright!
To our members, thank you again for your patience and understanding throughout this restoration process. Your messages of encouragement and gratitude mean more than words can express, and each one will be shared with the team. Serving you is a privilege.
As of 9:15 p.m., over 50 members remain without power in isolated outages across NGEMC’s system following Friday afternoon’s severe weather. We will continue to work around the clock to restore all outages, with the work now expected to continue into the early morning hours of Sunday. Thank you for your patience as we continue to work around the clock to restore all power.
2:00 p.m. update: Over 550 members remain without power in 55 separate outages. While crews anticipate most power being restored by 5 p.m., we have been advised that some isolated outages may extend into the evening hours. Crews are working to safely restore all power as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, the storms caused significant damage and crews are rebuilding several spans of single phase and three phase line. We are grateful for your patience, words of encouragement, and prayers for the safety of all crew members.
11:30 a.m. update: Over 860 members remain without power in 78 separate outages. Damage from the storm was widespread, with Walker County experiencing some of the most extensive damage in NGEMC's service area. Relief crews from Central Georgia EMC, Cobb EMC, and MPS have arrived on the system and are now assisting with the efforts. The full restoration effort is estimated to last until 5 p.m. Saturday evening.
7:00 a.m. update: Approximately 1,100 members remain without power in 89 separate outage events. Crews have worked since the onset of Friday afternoon’s storms, restoring power to 11,000 members as of daybreak.
Multiple crews from other EMCs in the state are joining the restoration process this morning. Crews will continue to work until all power is restored. Full restoration may extend to 5 pm, but progress will continue throughout the day.
Thank you for your patience as the crews rebuild several parts of the system.
4:14 a.m. update: Over 1,900 members remain without power in 110 separate outage events. Crews remain in the field working to identify the cause of outages and restore them on a case-by-case basis. We thank you for your continued patience as we work to repair the damage caused by yesterday's severe storms.
12:00 a.m. update: approximately 2,300 members remain without power in 128 separate outage events. NGEMC will continue working throughout the night, and expects to continue the restoration effort until mid-day Saturday. Thank you for your patience as we continue working around the clock until all power is safely restored.
8:30 p.m. update: NGEMC crews have restored power to more than 5,500 members since this afternoon's storms. More than 6,200 members remain without power in 134 outage events. At least six broken poles, numerous fallen trees, and several spans of downed lines have been located across NGEMC's system. Crews will continue working throughout the night. The full restoration effort is now expected to last until mid-day Saturday.
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UPDATED
Following multiple severe weather warnings on Friday afternoon, over 12,000 NGEMC members were left without power in approximately 146 separate outage events.
While crews anticipate significant progress before nightfall, the full restoration effort is expected to last into mid-day Saturday due to the extent of the damage and the number of individual outage cases.
Crews continue to face challenges as High Wind Warnings are set to remain in effect until 11pm throughout the service area. Minutes ago, one crew reported restoring an outage only to have a tree fall right in front of the truck, bringing back down the line they had just repaired.
Due to the widespread nature of the storm damage, the number of fallen trees, and the continuation of high winds, NGEMC cannot provide individual outage restoration estimates at this time. For households with members who rely on electricity for vital medical equipment, we strongly encourage that you have a plan in place for relocating to a facility with power.
For live updates, please see our outage map. To report an outage, log in to your account online or via the My NGEMC account app.
NGEMC crews will work around the clock until all power is restored.
Storm damage photos from our crews:
