3 Dead, 444K Without Power, Schools Cancel: Zeta Slams GA

Updated at 10:05 p.m.

ATLANTA, GA — Power has been restored to roughly 600,000 Georgia households, but more than 400,000 remained without electricity Thursday night in the wake of Tropical Storm Zeta, and it will be Sunday night or later before all customers are back on again.

Some schools have canceled, one person was killed in Cherokee County, and two Gwinnett County residents were killed by falling trees after winds pummeled the Atlanta region.

"We've now restored power to nearly 490,000 customers across the state and will continue working to get your lights back on," Georgia Power tweeted Thursday night. "Hurricane #Zeta hit Georgia hard, but we expect power to be restored to 95% of customers impacted by Sunday night. Thank you for your patience!"

The PowerOutage.US website, which tracks problems nationwide, said Georgia Power alone had 262,232 customers offline at 9:30 p.m., down from more than 600,000 of its customers offline Thursday morning.

The National Weather Service had worried that saturated soil and tropical storm-strength winds and rain would cause major problems for the state. Atlanta area residents were urged by the agency to shelter from the wind and hazards. Several counties delayed voting as crews worked to clear trees from roads, and warned that power outages might affect voting sites.

Two people died in the 500 block of Garner Street of the Buford area in Gwinnett County, authorities said, when a tree crashed onto their home. The adults were found dead in their bed Thursday afternoon, AJC.com reported.

According to Cherokee County Sheriff's Office spokesman Jay Baker, deputies received a call that a tree had fallen at the Eastgate Mobile Home Park in Acworth. Deputies found a large oak tree had been uprooted and fallen on a mobile home. A man who was sleeping inside the trailer died as a result of the tree fall.

About 9:30 p.m., the statewide number of power outages stood at 444,042.

Fulton County Schools will be converted to a remote teacher workday Friday.

"We are grateful to local crews clearing roads and restoring power, but the storm impact on our schools remains significant," Fulton school officials said.

As of Thursday afternoon, Fulton school officials said more than 40 campuses remained without power and internet. It's not clear when utilities will be restored.

The Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security urged residents to stay home Thursday. Wind speeds must be below 30 mph before crews can be sent to restore it.

"Don't go out today if you don't have to. Continue to monitor local news outlets, heed the guidance of local officials and follow @NWSAtlanta for the latest updates on alerts and warnings," emergency official said.

"We’re working as quickly as we can to restore power to nearly 600,000 customers," Georgia Power tweeted. "Thank you for being patient as we work towards restoration. For personalized service updates check out our Outage Alerts service at http://georgiapower.com/outage."

On Thursday night, Cobb EMC had 36,312 outages; GreyStone Power Corporation had 31,213 outages; Jackson EMC had 6,824 outages; Sawnee EMC had 13,793 outages; and Amicalola EMC had 30,209 outages. More than 30 electric utilities in the state reported outages Thursday morning when the statewide number of customers offline stood at roughly 1 million.

School Closings/Changes on Friday

Some school districts in the Atlanta metro canceled or went to online classes for Friday. They include:

• Bartow County Schools: Closed Friday - No Distance Learning
• Cobb County Schools: Closed Friday - All Classes Canceled
• Fulton County Schools: Closed Friday - Remote Teacher Workday
• Atlanta Public Schools: Remote Teacher Workday
• Gwinnett County Schools: Gwinnett County Public Schools will hold a digital learning day for all students on Friday, October 30. Both in-person and digital learners will participate in digital learning from home. Should students not be able to access lessons due to power outages they may complete the work at a later time. Teachers will not report to school, they will instead teach students from home. Meals will not be available for pick up at schools or by bus delivery on Friday.
• Gwinnett Technical College: Closed Friday
• Paulding County Schools: Closed Friday
• DeKalb County Schools: Digital Learning Day Friday
• Cherokee County Schools: With multiple school power outages ongoing likely through Friday morning and 20+ roads impassible, CCSD will be closed Friday, Oct. 30, 2020. It will not be a Digital Learning Day due to power outages.
• Douglas County Schools: October 30 we will have school on a normal Friday schedule. All students will learn online from home. If you are still without power or the internet at your home, teachers will work with your child to make up any missed assignments.

Utilities and state officials offered safety tips for the storm's aftermath:

• Watch for downed wires, which may be hidden by debris or fallen trees.
• Never touch any downed wire or attempt to remove tree branches from power lines.
• Don’t step in standing water or saturated ground where downed lines may be present. They could be electrified.
• Disconnect or turn off any appliances that will start automatically when power returns to avoid overloading circuits when power is restored.
• Cook with a camp stove, fireplace or can of Sterno (cooking fuel). Never use charcoal or other fuels in unventilated areas.
• If you use an electric generator, plug appliances directly into it. Never plug a generator directly into your home's electrical wiring.
• Disconnect or turn off appliances you were using when the power went off. Leave one light on to tell you when service is restored.
• Avoid opening refrigerators or freezers. Food will stay frozen in a fully loaded freezer for 36 to 48 hours if the door is closed. In a half-full freezer, food will keep 24 hours.
• If you have access to an outside generator, have an electric cord long enough to keep the generator at least 20 feet from any door, window, or vent.
• NEVER use generators, outdoor heating or cooking equipment, such as a grill, camp stove, or a gasoline or propane heater, indoors.

Some DeKalb County water customers may have water pressure drop because of power fluctuations and outages at county pump stations, authorities said Thursday. Strong winds knocked down dozens of trees around the county, and more trees are expected to fall throughout the day. Damaged power lines will cause temporary outages until generators at pump stations kick on.

Any customer experiencing brown water should run their faucets until the water is clear.

The first time in recorded history that the Atlanta metro was under a tropical storm warning was in September 2017 as Hurricane Irma made landfall as a category 4 storm over the Florida Keys and then traveled north through Georgia, causing widespread crop damage and power outages.

Related:

• School Canceled Friday In Decatur
• Zeta Kills Georgia Man After Tree Falls On Mobile Home
• Zeta Leads To Downed Trees, Power Lines In Alpharetta-Milton
• Trees, Power Lines Down In Forsyth County Following Zeta
• Zeta Forces Mary Alice Park In Cumming To Close Indefinitely
• Cobb County Delays Openings, Voting Due To Hurricane Zeta
• Dozens Of Trees Down In DeKalb, Officials Warn: Hurricane Zeta
• Marietta Cancels Virtual Learning Due To Tropical Storm Zeta
• Smyrna Closes Court, Library And More Due To Tropical Storm Zeta