VALDOSTA — John Montague walked down from his house on Alden Avenue Wednesday afternoon to check the damage to a nearby power line. 

“We’ve had no power since 6 a.m. Sunday morning,” Montague said. “We have a generator going for my wife’s oxygen and our refrigerator.”

While the lack of power has been inconvenient, Montague said he sustained more damage last September during Hermine than Irma. 

“With Hermine, we just weren’t really ready,” he said.

Georgia Power has completed its statewide damage assessment and is confident it can have 95 percent of customers impacted by Irma restored by Sunday.

According to a press release, Georgia Power had 60 percent of homes’ power restored Wednesday afternoon.

In Lowndes County, Georgia Power served more than 30,000 customers with 3,800 customers still without power Wednesday afternoon.

“The company estimates that thousands of customers in some of the hardest hits parts of the state may not be able to reconnect to Georgia Power service due to extensive damage,” Georgia Power stated in a release. “Property owners should contact a qualified electrician to make repairs to private property prior to reconnecting to service.”

As of Wednesday morning, Colquitt EMC reported about 13,500 outages down from 51,000 Monday morning.

Sonya Aldridge, manager for marketing and member services, said Colquitt EMC’s crews and service personnel have been battling tough conditions and working to repair severe damage to power lines, power poles and equipment. Additional crews have arrived from Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative to assist. 

“Due to the severity of damages, we encourage members to prepare for a lengthy restoration process that could last for several days,” Aldridge stated in an email.

 

Interstate 75 flooding

Meanwhile, across the state line, officials were watching a bridge in north Florida Wednesday afternoons for signs of flooding that might shut down Interstate 75, according to the Florida Department of Transportation.

The FDOT was watching a small bridge at I-75 over the Santa Fe River County, according to an FDOT statement.

“The river is expected to crest at historic and unprecedented levels presenting a potential threat to the safety of travel on this bridge,” the statement said.

The Santa Fe River under I-75 rose 15 feet within 36 hours due to the heavy rainfall from Hurricane Irma, and an additional rise is expected as water levels from upstream move southward down the river, according to the transportation department. 

However, if the river were to rise to an unsafe level, the bridge would become impassable both northbound and southbound, and would be closed immediately, FDOT said. The interstate had not been closed as of print deadline.

 

Cable services

Mediacom Communications reported Wednesday afternoon its broadband and cable television services have been restored to approximately 57 percent of Georgia customers.

Mediacom delivers broadband services throughout a 30-county area of southwest Georgia, and since the storm made its worst impact Monday, services have been restored to 57 percent of customers using Mediacom for residential or business internet service.

Monday, Mediacom reported 17,600 customers had temporarily lost services, and as of early Wednesday, the number had been reduced to 7,577.

“Our Georgia customers have been the focus of our attention, with more than 1,000 Mediacom employees working to bring services back up as quickly as possible,” said Doug Frank, group vice president for Mediacom operations. “We know how essential it is to stay connected, and we want to help customers return to their normal daily routines.”

 

Economic impact

Lowndes County Emergency Management Agency reported it doesn’t expect to have Valdosta-area damage estimates until Thursday afternoon. 

Paige Dukes, Lowndes County clerk and public information officer, said damage-assessment teams are awaiting restoration of electricity in more areas.  

“We didn’t want them getting hurt or in the way,” Dukes stated in an email.

 

Post-storm injuries

No one was treated for injuries during the storm Sunday night and Monday, according to South Georgia Medical Center. However, there have been several people with injuries caused by cleaning and clearing debris left by the storm. 

Laura O. Love, director of community relations communications and public affairs, said SGMC urges people in the community to be careful when climbing ladders and working on rooftops.  

“Sometimes, the best advice is to leave the tough jobs to the professionals,” Love said.

 

Gasoline shortages

Gasoline deliveries and prices in Valdosta have taken a hit from Irma.

The Langdale Fuel Company, which supplies gasoline to multiple gas stations in Valdosta, said Hurricane Harvey had damaged pipelines, and Irma only intensified the problem.

“We’re playing catch-up right now,” said Ashley Sirmans, Langdale Fuel office manager. “Irma did have an impact because the trucks were already behind because of Harvey, and then the trucks could not run Sunday and most of Monday, (and) then Tuesday they were late getting going.”

Sirmans said gasoline deliveries for Valdosta are back to normal at the moment. She said the company has plenty of regular gasoline and diesel. 

“It’s a tight supply but there is supply there,” Sirmans said of Valdosta.

According to Sirmans, the Jacksonville terminal was damaged, adding to Florida’s gas shortage, and as Florida residents can’t get gas, that will impact Valdosta. During Irma, terminals in Georgia lost power, such as at one of the Albany terminals.

One of the Colonial Pipelines, a company that provides gasoline to 12 states including Georgia, was taken out by Harvey and was only running at 40 percent right after the hurricane, Sirmans said. Lack of gas supplies at terminals such as Albany, Jacksonville and Macon due to Harvey has been the main cause of the area shortage.

Dukes encouraged residents to remain conservative with fuel consumption until supplies return to normal levels. She said fuel deliveries are hard to predict due to many contributing factors outside of local control. 

According to a Sept. 10 U.S. Department of Energy release, Georgia issued a state of emergency and hours-of-service waiver for petroleum products in 92 counties until Sept. 22. Georgia is third in the U.S. for the largest weekly increase in gas prices with Florida being first, as of Sept. 11, and the average gas price for Valdosta is currently $2.72, according to the AAA Gas Prices webpage.

For updates on Colonial Pipeline’s response to Irma, visit irma.colonialresponse.com.

 

Food shortages

Along with gas shortages in the days leading up to the storm, Valdosta and its surrounding areas also saw a shortage of food supplies and water. 

Shelves were beginning to fill again Wednesday at Publix and Walmart. The bread and canned food aisles still have a few gaps in product and freezers are empty across Valdosta as many locations lost power. 

 

Thomas Lynn is a government and education reporter for The Valdosta Daily Times. He can be reached at (229)244-3400 ext. 1256