GREENE COUNTY
Stories of the devastation from Hurricane Helene highlighted the Greene County Chamber of Commerce’s annual awards banquet on Tuesday.
Stories included a message from Evan Clark, who is employed by Chamber member Matthews Motors, which is based in Augusta and Aiken.
“As somebody who was born and raised in Augusta, we have never seen devastation like this,” Clark said. “It is just kind of unbelievable. [When] we hear a hurricane is coming, we go on like usual. We get a little bit of rain and a little bit of wind, and we continue. The amount of tree damage and all the destruction [has] been impressive in all the worst ways, and as we’re going through this crisis in Augusta, we can’t stop thinking about how much worse North Carolina has been. Our thoughts and prayers are with them as we’re going through the tragedy ourselves; we’ve got friends and family still without power.
“We must thank all the first responders, Georgia Power, and the linemen, as well as the influx of support during this time. We just want to thank everybody for all the love and support. Just keep our little neck of the woods in your thoughts and prayers and, again, continue to pray for North Carolina.”
Georgia Power area manager Angela Haun also shared restoration updates.
Haun said Hurricane Helene had the biggest impact on Georgia Power in company history. The damage was so great that they added a staging site at Greene’s Arena for multiple electric companies’ crews to have easier access to heavily-hit Augusta.
“I’ve been [with Georgia Power for] 18 years and have never been called to work with staging sites,” Haun shared. “I told them they were at the bottom of the barrel when they called me in.”
Of Georgia Power’s 2.7 million customers, Haun said 1.5 million lost power at some point for any given period of time.
Haun also reported that 8,300 utility poles, including 3,500 poles in Augusta, had been broken and needed to be replaced.
Over 21,000 spans of wire, equating to more than 1,000 miles, had to be replaced, as well as 2,000 transformers. Haun also noted that more than 3,200 fallen trees had to be removed before repairs could be completed.
She said that as of Tuesday, 99 percent of Georgia Power’s service area was restored, and 95 percent of Augusta's service was back online.
She said the company has about 8,000 homes still in the dark, and is focused on steadily working to restore power.
Haun also thanked Greene County for their help in Georgia Power’s restoration efforts.
“I just really want to put appreciation out there for this community,” she said. “We can’t do this by ourselves.”
Haun thanked county manager Byron Lombard, Greene County Emergency Management Agency director Joe Bashore, chamber president Mika Mills, the Greene County Fire Rescue, the Greene County Sheriff’s Office, the Greensboro Police Department, the Development Authority for providing overflow parking in the Athens Tech Drive area, and Lake Oconee Presbyterian for providing chili and treats.
Mike Collins, the U.S. representative for Georgia’s 10th congressional district, also shared a message about the hurricane's impact.
“As far as the 10th district goes, I think we can count our blessings,” he said. “We did have some damage over on that northeastern side, and we’ve looked at [the damages there]. Please let us know if there’s anything else we need to look at. Thank the good Lord. We were spared much of it, but North Carolina has taken a big hit. Fellow freshman [U.S. Rep.] Chuck Edwards, who is over in the area of Asheville, says you really wouldn’t notice the area as the way it used to look like . . . Those people in North Carolina definitely need our help. I know Augusta did get struck, and [U.S. Rep.] Rick Allen is working awfully hard over there to get them going.”
Collins also thanked Georgia Power and local electric cooperatives for their efforts to bring power back to Georgia.