Hurricane Irma Blows Through Cherokee, Leaves Little Damage

CANTON, GA -- The effects of Tropical Storm Irma are moving through metro Atlanta, and it appears Cherokee County was spared the bulk of the wind damage reported in other areas of the region. The city of Canton and other local entities sounded the alarm to their residents, and urged them to hunker down and prepare for whatever Irma decides to dump on the Peach State.

As of Monday evening, there was one report of a tree falling onto a house, but it did not cause major damage, Cherokee Sheriff's Office spokesperson Sgt. Marianne Kelley. However, she noted reports of trees down and power outages have increased as the day progressed. There are roughly 7,322 power outages in Cherokee, but they are situated mostly on the north and east side of the county, Sgt. Kelley told Patch.

That's small potatoes, compared to the roughly 1.4 million people reportedly without power across Georgia due to Irma's wrath unleashed onto the Peach State over the last 12 hours. Georgia Power reported more than 748,000 outages while Georgia EMC, the organization that represents the state's electric cooperatives, states it has about 537,000 customers without power.

In north Cherokee, residents who are serviced by Amicalola EMC and experience a power outage may find themselves without electricity until the morning hours. The cooperative, which reported 5,242 power outages as of 8 p.m. Monday, said on its Facebook page that it had to suspend restorative operations due to the dangerous conditions.

"Conditions are too dangerous for our crews to work in and the risk for personal injury is too high," it told its customers. "We will resume power restoration as soon as we safely can."

Cobb EMC, which provides electricity to most residents south of the Etowah River, also said it crews are working as fast as humanly possible to restore power to its customers.

The city of Canton closed its offices at noon Monday, and the Cherokee County School District will remain closed through Tuesday, as will Chattahoochee Technical College, North Georgia Health District and the county's CATS bus system. Reinhardt University's classes are cancelled Tuesday, but staff members are to report at 11 a.m.

The Cherokee County government, along with the Blue Ridge Judicial Circuit court operations, are set to reopen Tuesday during normal hours. Canton City Manager Billy Peppers said the city is also set to open up shop at its normal time on Tuesday.

As of 8 p.m. Monday, Peppers said the city had "nothing major" to report as far as damage in the city.

Watch: Hurricane Irma Weakens To A Tropical Storm, But It's Still Dangerous

Three shelters are currently up and running in Cherokee:

Oak Leaf Church, 151 East Marietta Street, Canton

• Will provide food and water.
• Call 678-653-4652 for details

Action Church, 271 Marietta Road, Canton

• Contact Mike Atchison at 678-249-4193 for details

Cherokee Outdoor YMCA, 201 E. Bells Ferry Road, Woodstock

• Space for 77 in 7 individual rooms (11 beds in each)
• Each room has its own bathroom, and towels and linens will be provided.
• Contact Dave Andrews at (212) 641.0023 or DaveA@ymcaatlanta.org for more information.

Irma was downgraded from a Category 1 hurricane to a tropical storm early Monday morning as it departed Florida and entered southern Georgia near Albany (SIGN UP: Get Patch's Daily Newsletter and Real Time News Alerts. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app).

To the south in Woodstock, city operations closed at noon Sept. 11. City Manager Jeff Moon, who said the city mostly experienced one malfunctioning traffic light and and a couple of downed trees, said Woodstock will resume its normal schedule on Tuesday. Monday's weather forced the city to cancel its Municipal Court's afternoon session, 9/11 Day of Remembrance and City Council meeting.

Waste Management, which also suspended residential trash pick up service for Monday in Canton and Woodstock, said it will resume operations on Tuesday, Woodstock added.

According to information shared by Cherokee County Emergency Management Agency Director Renee Cornelison, Tropical Storm Irma is tracking north-northwest around 17 miles per hour. As Monday transitions into Tuesday, you can expect an additional 1 to 3 inches of rain (with locally higher amounts possible), possible river and stream creek flooding.

Wind gusts of 30 to 50 mph will continue throughout the evening, but that's expected to gradually diminish during the overnight hours. While these conditions are slowly more favorable, emergency management officials continue to remind residents to exercise caution throughout the evening and especially after dark since it will be harder to see debris and trees blocking roadways.

You can continue to monitor the latest weather forecasts by visiting the National Weather Service's website.

Image via National Weather Service