Power and road crews worked well into the day Sunday, restoring power and clearing roads in the wake of a strong winter storm that plowed through northeast Georgia and other parts of the southeast.
Habersham EMC appeared to have been one of the hardest hit agencies. As of 5:27 Sunday evening, there were 4,900 of its meters that were still without power. "Outside" crews from Diverse Power, Pike Electric, Snapping Shoals EMC, Walton EMC, and Washington EMC were assisting in the power restoration.
Meanwhile, Jackson EMC began getting reports of power outages at 9:00 Saturday night. A spokeswoman says linemen worked throughout the night to restore power to thousands of the EMC's members. At 1:00 a.m., 3,990 were without power. That number had been reduced to 229 by 8:30 a.m.: 189 in Hall County, 19 in Lumpkin, 18 in Banks, and three in Gwinnett County.
Strong winds that toppled trees onto powerlines and power poles were blamed for most of the outages.
Georgia Department of Transportation crews from the Gainesville district office also fanned out across the northeast corner of the state, clearing and treating roads in the 21 counties the office serves.
Most counties in the area are under either a Winter Storm Warning or a Winter Weather Advisory, according to the National Weather Service.
A blanket of snow covered the northernmost counties, while heavy rains, gusty winds, and at times freezing rain were occurring elsewhere in north Georgia.
Some social media postings included pictures of boat docks on Lake Lanier that were damaged by the high winds - either having been torn from their moorings and crushed by falling trees.
ELSEWHERE AROUND THE SOUTHEAST
Western North Carolina appeared to be the hardest hit area in the South. Several inches of snow,more than a foot in places, blanketed many places. South Caroling and parts of Tennessee also were snow-covered Sunday morning.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper strongly urged residents to stay off the roads Sunday, asking drivers not to put lives of first responders needlessly at risk. Cooper said emergency crews, including the National Guard, had worked overnight to clear traffic accidents on major roadways. One tractor trailer ran off a road and into a river, Cooper said.
"Stay put if you can," Cooper said. "Wrap a few presents, decorate the tree, watch some football."
Governors and local officials in several states declared emergencies ahead of the storm crossing several Southern states, which is hitting portions of North Carolina and Virginia particularly hard.
Officials have warned residents to prepare emergency kits and staff off roads in impacted areas.
"Virginians should take all necessary precautions to ensure they are prepared for winter weather storm impacts," said Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam.
The National Weather Service said a "prolonged period of snow" began late Saturday and would last until Monday in the region, with the heaviest snow expected in northwest North Carolina and southern Virginia. Forecasters have said some mountain areas of North Carolina could get up to 12 inches (30 centimeters) of snow or more.
Heavy rains also were expected elsewhere in other parts of the South, creating possible floods in coastal areas.
More than 300,000 power outages have been reported across the region with the majority of those - about 180,000 - in North Carolina, according to poweroutage.us. More than 82,000 were without power in South Carolina, while a total of about 75,000 outages were reported across Tennessee, Alabama, and Mississippi.
Charlotte Douglas International Airport, the sixth busiest airport in the country, said American Airlines would reduce its operations starting Saturday evening, with more than 1,000 flights cancelled on Sunday.
American has also issued a travel alert for nine airports throughout the Carolinas, Tennessee, and Virginia, meaning passengers may be able to change travel plans without a fee.
Travelers were advised to check their flight status before heading to the airport. Cancellations were reported on flights from as far as the Midwest.
Signs of a pending monster snowfall were prevalent. Traffic crews treated roads ahead of the storm. Amtrak has canceled or modified some routes because of the storm. And many hardware stores sold out of ice melt.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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