Habersham EMC provides power outage update

CLARKESVILLE - Power outages continue across the region, with thousands of homes and businesses without electricity.<br /> <br /> Habersham Electric Membership Corp. crews have been able to restore power to 4,615 of the 12,042 members affected by the outage. As of 10:50 a.m., the cooperative's website reports that 7,426 members are affected by 338 ongoing power outages.<br /> <br /> As of 5 a.m., HEMC spokeswoman Nicole Dover had reported some 6,700 Habersham EMC members were without electricity as the result of scattered outages throughout HEMC's six-county service area.<br /> <br /> Current outages as of 10:50 a.m. affect 3,663 customers in Habersham (up from 3,486 at 5 a.m.), 580 in Hall (up from 283 at 5 a.m.), 276 in Lumpkin (up from 179 at 5 a.m.), 211 in Rabun (up from 179 at 5 a.m.), 63 in Stephens (up from 0 at 5 a.m.) and 2,633 in White (down from 2,753 at 5 a.m.).<br /> <br /> "Some efforts have been hampered by the large amounts of trees brought down by the ice," Dover said. "Power crews had to cut their way into areas overnight in order to work on downed lines."<br /> <br /> Dover said 10 additional crews from cooperatives throughout the state will be arriving Tuesday to assist with restoration efforts. Contractor crews also have been brought in to assist with tree removal.<br /> <br /> "This is a major event and unfortunately some members will experience long-term outages of four or five days," Dover said. "HEMC members are asked to please contact the cooperative every four to six hours to report continued outages." <br /> <br /> Outages may be reported to (706) 754-2114, (706) 865-4362, (800) 640-6812; or online at www.habershamemc.com.<br /> <br /> Dover reminds HEMC customers not to report outage via the utility's social media pages.