Early Thursday morning, August 10, 2023, there were 668 Excelsior EMC customers in Bulloch County sill without power. Most of these citizens have been without power since Tuesday evening due to a powerful storm that swept through Southern Georgia. Georgia Power has all of their customers restored as of this morning.
At 5:00 PM on Wednesday, EMC thanked the 125 lineman who have traveled to Bulloch County to help get power restored. They are anticipating having most of the power restored by late Thursday.
From EMC, "We are still working diligently to restore power as soon as possible but due to the severity of the damage, we expect this restoration effort to last into tomorrow(Thursday). At every turn, our crews are finding tree after tree on our power lines which is resulting in a very time extensive restoration. Luckily, we have neighbors (power lineman crews) who were willing to lend a helping hand in our time of need, which has increased our workforce from our normal 25 line workers to approximately 150 men working their hardest to get your lights back on. We appreciate the patience and support we have received from the community during this time!
1/3 of EMC without power during storm
At one point Tuesday evening Excelsior EMC reported that 1/3 of their entire customer base was without power, over 10,000 customers. They requested additional help from EMC crews outside of Bulloch County.
Pike EMC, Planters Electrical Membership Corporation and Coastal Electric Cooperative have all sent crews to assist Excelsior EMC crews.
Schools without power
Bulloch County Schools in Stilson and Nevils were without power on Wednesday, but continued holding classes. It is unknown at this time if power has been restored to those two schools.
Power outages impact everyone
Georgia State Representative Lehman Franklin and his wife Lorie, who live in Stilson, are among the hundreds without power. Representative Franklin spoke to Grice Connect last night. He and his wife Lorie shared the communities gratitude and praise for all the power crews and good Samaritans who have came to the aid of Bulloch County. They are patiently waiting, like so many others, to have their power restored, but they understand the magnitude of the challenges facing the power companies. They send their praise and prayers to all of the lineman.
The Franklins have been without power since Tuesday evening along with their neighbors. They have large trees down and power poles snapped into pieces from downed trees.
Stilson and Nevils
Grice Connect has received reports throughout the day of heavy debris, trees down and power outages throughout the Southern part of Bulloch County, especially in the Stilson and Nevils communities. Bulloch County Public Safety and Bulloch County Public Works crews have worked since Tuesday event to help clear roadways and assist access to power crews.
Huge public safety and public works effort
Bulloch County Sheriffs Department and Bulloch County Fire Department called all of their deputies and firefighters in to help respond to calls from citizens on Tuesday evening. Many of them have been working since Tuesday night to aid our community as well.
Power companies urges citizens to please NOT approach downed power lines or items that are touching power lines.
Power Outage Maps
Click the links below to view power outage maps for your area. This will provide you with the most updated outage reports.
CLICK HERE for EMC Outage map
Grice Connect is always here for you when you need us
The Grice Connect team has been monitoring the outages and storm damage throughout the past few days. We will continue to provide updates as they become available. Grice Connect is always here for you when you need us most. That is why tens of thousand Bulloch County citizens depend on Grice Connect daily for their local news.
We offer a huge thanks as well to all of the power line crews, public safety members and good Samaritans who have also worked diligently over the past two days to keep you safe, clear roadways, debris and your power restored as quickly and safely as possible.
Storm Coverage
Wide spread power outages and trees down in South Bulloch overwhelms public safety
Thousands in Bulloch remain without power Wednesday morning | Additional Power Crews Coming to help
Nevils and Stilson Elementaries without power; Bus routes will run at 11:30am
