48K Georgians Remain Without Power; Fulton, DeKalb Hardest Hit

Updated at 1:20 a.m. Sunday

ACROSS GEORGIA — Nearly 1 million customers have had their power restored since Tropical Storm Zeta hit northern Georgia on Thursday, but roughly 48,000 households are still without power as of 1 a.m. Sunday. The storm pummeled the Atlanta area and caused three deaths from trees that slammed into residences.

Georgia Power said its crews have already restored electric service to more than 700,000 customers. As of 1:20 a.m. Sunday, 48,320 of the utility's customers were without power across the state.

The area with the most residents still offline are Fulton and DeKalb counties.

Based on the impact of Hurricane Zeta across the Southeast and other storm activity in the country, help from other utilities to restore power in Georgia is limited, the company said. Currently, Georgia Power has secured resources from 14 states to support power restoration.

Damage from Zeta is widespread and covers the northern half of the state, similar to the damage seen after Hurricane Michael in 2018, a Georgia Power news release said. As Hurricane Zeta crossed through the state, Georgia Power’s service territory experienced wind gusts of up to 75 mph for more than two hours, along with sustained winds of 25-40 mph for more than five hours straight.

Teams continue to be challenged by downed trees and blocked roads that must be cleared to enter areas.

The utility said there are 3,200 cases of individual damage or trouble.

As of 1:20 a.m. Sunday, 121,429 people remained without power. Here is a breakdown of the power outages by county for the Atlanta area, according to PowerOutage.US:

• Bartow County: 2,046
• Cherokee County: 3,555
• Cobb County: 1,722
• DeKalb County: 5,742
• Douglas County: 2,596
• Fulton County: 8,970
• Forsyth County: 434
• Gwinnett County: 639
• Paulding County: 775

According to Georgia Power, it expects power to be restored to 95 percent of its customers affected by Hurricane Zeta by Sunday night.

"We know being without power is difficult and are working to restore power as safely and quickly as possible. We appreciate your patience," the power company posted on its official Facebook page.

"Rest assured, our mighty storm team is working hard for you, your friends, family and neighbors to restore power so you can get back to focusing on those things that matter most," Georgia Power said.

Georgia EMC, which serves many customers in the metro Atlanta area, reported Friday that in the span of 24 hours, utility crews restored power to more than 280,000 customers. Crews from across Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina and Tennessee are working nonstop to complete full restoration, the company said.

Patch will continue to update the power outages in Georgia.