Also
In December, Sawnee EMC announced an overhaul to its online portal at sawnee.com, which provides “real-time information on power outages, including outage reporting and detailed maps.”
Any time an outage affects them, Sawnee customers can visit www.sawnee.com and click the “Storm Center” page to find information about the situation.
Current outages can be filtered and viewed by county, zip code or outage number. Information is then presented in an easy-to-read and understand format.
The data is also linked to an interactive map of Sawnee EMC’s service area that shows what areas and number of accounts have been impacted by the outage, as well as its likely cause and length.
The site not only provides the status of the crew assigned to address the outage, but also reveals what specific information has been gathered from the field.
Outages can also be reported by calling (770) 887-2363.
Related content
* Georgia Power customers can report an outage or monitor one by visiting http://outagemap.georgiapower.com.
* Snow tapers off; worst likely yet to come.
UPDATE (9 p.m. Wednesday) — As of Wednesday afternoon, it appears Forsyth County has managed to avoid the widespread power outages plaguing other parts of the metro Atlanta area.
"As of right now, we have no power outages," said Blake House, spokesman for Sawnee Electric Membership Corp.
According to House, there were some service disruptions early Wednesday morning, but "those didn't last very long."
"We had a few trees that fell and knocked the lines out, but we had crews strategically placed throughout our system already, so they were able to get to them quickly and get them back on," House said.
"We currently have zero power outages so we're in great shape."
Check back for updates at forsythnews.com.
CUMMING — As most eyes remained on the skies, others in Forsyth County were busy preparing for another symptom of winter weather — power outages.
Officials with Sawnee Electric Membership Corp., which provides service to some 70,000 customers in Forsyth County, said there have been no outages yet, and likely won’t be until ice starts to form.
“We're fully staffed and then some,” said Blake House, spokesman for the utility. “We have plenty of off-site contractors that we've called in, so we've got additional resources we've secured. We started working on this plan yesterday. We activated our emergency response plan internally.
“We let all 300 employees know that as soon as it starts, it's going to be all hands on deck. We don't go home until all of the outages are taken care of.”
According to House, snow doesn't typically cause widespread outages.
“Really the only thing you'd have issues with are people running off the road and hitting a utility pole,” he said. “If we get freezing rain of a quarter inch or more, it could cause significant widespread outages. But right now the forecast is changing in our favor.
“If things continue like this, we'll be fine today, but after midnight is when we expect the forecast for freezing rain.”
He went on to note that “there's nothing people can do to prevent a power outage.”
“What they can really do is be prepared with food and flashlights and things like that,” he said. “But also, if you have any health issues, if you're on oxygen or any life support … you want to make preparations because any time they're calling for freezing rain or an ice storm, you've got to be ready.”