GRIFFIN, Ga. — A wave of severe weather that brought tornadoes left thousands without utilities and destroyed more than half the power system in Griffin. Many have been without power for five days.
The good news is that none of the substations were impacted, which would have left residents without power for weeks. However, there are about 2,000 still without electricity.
Esther and Charles Lovett have lived in their home for 47 years, but this is the first time they've been without power for five days in a row.
“I’ve never witnessed anything like that in my life. And I’ve been around a good while,” Charles said.
Their daughter Robin Driver helped them load up their cars Tuesday.
"We’re using lanterns and candles to get around the house," she said.
Griffin City Manager Jessica O’Connor said crews are working around the clock, but with 60 percent of the system destroyed as of Monday, it is no easy feat.
“Typically in a storm, you’re going to see some service lines that need to be repaired so you’ll see people at your house much quicker that way. This is not that -- this is rebuilding a system,” O’Connor said.
That includes utility poles, power boxes and transformers.
"We were fortunate that none of our substations were damaged or we would be talking a long, long time for repairs," O’Connor added.
In addition to the tornado causing problems with the power system, officials said uprooted and fallen trees are also problematic to the county’s recovery.
“We had about $3 million worth of damage with sidewalks because trees uprooted them. We’ve had some water main breaks. A lot of times because the ground shifts it’s usually after the storm comes that you see the main breaks,” O’Connor said.
North Georgia's constant rain is making it worse.
"Storm water has become a problem because we have drainage ditches that normally would be able to take rain but they're full of trees. We cleaned over 200 of them yesterday they were hoping to get to 300 more today," she said.
