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Flood safety tips
- Pack a disaster kit including a three-day supply of water and nonperishable food for each person in the household and items such as a flashlight and batteries, a first aid kit, medications, sanitation and personal hygiene items, cellphones and chargers, extra cash and copies of important papers.
- If a flood or flash flood warning is issued, head for higher ground and stay there.
- Stay away from floodwaters whether walking or driving
- Keep children out of the water.
- Be especially cautious at night when it is harder to recognize flood danger.
- Share preparedness information with neighbors, friends and family to help them stay safe.
- Once you are certain your household is safe, check in on neighbors, friends and family to ensure they are safe and have everything they need. It is particularly helpful to check in on those who are elderly and/or have functional or access needs.
Overnight storms caused minor damage and power outages in Hall County on Tuesday, and another round is forecast to wrap up today.
Hall County Fire Services answered several calls early of trees down on power lines. Spring Road at Newton Street was shut down while Georgia Power Co. crews worked on downed lines in the area.
Power came back on around 9:30 a.m. after being out at Lyman Hall Elementary School. Some bus routes were changed to deal with downed trees in roadways, and one bus dealt with a “down line” on top of it, though it was not a power line, Hall County Schools Transportation Director Jewel Armour said.
Georgia Power Co. reported 1,065 outages scattered across Hall County, but by 11 a.m., just 122 customers were still affected. Most of the early outages were in an area between McEver and Browns Bridge roads.
Bonnie Jones, spokeswoman for Jackson EMC, said the utility began responding about 5:30 a.m. to outages in Hall, Gwinnett and Jackson counties. She reported 733 customers were affected as of 9 a.m.; by 11 a.m. that number was down to 74.
The Hall outages were reported at College Square (McEver and Mundy Mill roads), East Hall (East Hall Middle School, Gillsville Highway and Gaines Mill Road), Gillsville, Sandy Hill, Candler, Spout Springs, Oakwood, and Bark Camp at Sardis Road.
The most significant outages were around East Hall Middle School affecting 178 customers, with power since being restored, and 541 customers in the Gillsville Highway and Gaines Mill Road area. The other outages were mainly for single customers.
The Hall County school system canceled field trips for Tuesday, given the weather.
Showers and thunderstorms are likely today, with the weather service putting the probability of precipitation at 70 percent.
“A cold front is making its way in from the Lower Mississippi Valley area,” said Alex Gibbs, a forecaster with the weather service office in Peachtree City. “There’s a slight risk of severe weather.”
One to 3 inches of rain is predicted for North and Central Georgia, he said, but the system should clear out by about noon.
A flood watch is in effect for most of Northeast Georgia, including Hall County, until 2 a.m. Thursday.
While Northwest Georgia got 1.5 to 3 inches of rain Tuesday, the rest of the state had received about a quarter of an inch or less, Gibbs said.
He said the storm system had mostly broken up before it got to Northeast Georgia.