Hurricane Irma: 30K Without Power In DeKalb

DECATUR, GA -- More than 30,000 residents in DeKalb County were without power Monday afternoon as tropical force winds thrashed metro Atlanta. The inclement weather increased the risks of falling trees and strong wind gusts as the day wore on, officials said. Already several roads in the area were closed. Metro Atlanta will continue to feel the effects of the fast-moving storm until the sunshine returns Wednesday, according to the National Weather Service.

DeKalb has been under a tropical storm watch since Sunday afternoon due to the rapid northernly churn of Irma. (SIGN UP: Get Patch's Daily Newsletter and Real Time News Alerts. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app.)

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DeKalb firefighters were in the process Monday of putting additional emergency response units in service, officials said. The DeKalb government sent a message to residents to "shelter in place" as the weather deteriorated.

In addition to 30,000 people being in the dark in DeKalb, the county said that Georgia Power workers were actively assessing the situation. Wind gusts midday were around 35 miles per hour, with scattered power outages, DeKalb said.

Irma had weakened considerably by Monday afternoon, but was still dangerous, leaving a path of destruction from the Florida Keys right up to Atlanta's doorstep.

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Public safety officials in Miami were still assessing the damage as millions of people reported that their power was out in South Florida.

Tropical storm-force winds are expected to thrash Georgia and parts of metro Atlanta for much of Monday.

Georgia Power customers with outages, please call the Customer Service Department at: 888-660-5890 Outages: 888-891-0938.

image via Craig Johnson / Patch