Crews prep to help keep power on ahead of snow

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Contractors across metro Atlanta are getting ready for the winter storm. That means taking down branches.

Channel 2’s Cory James continues the live Severe Weather Team 2 coverage from DeKalb County.

Tree companies are looking for anything at risk of falling on power lines.

Tree removal companies were out in Dunwoody Friday afternoon, doing service calls ahead of Saturday’s widespread snowfall.

“We got a lot of calls leading up to the storm,” said Brian Hartman, who owns Northside Tree Professionals.

He says his workers have been busy this week clearing branches for customers who are worried about what this winter storm could bring.

“It’s about 40% above where we were last year same. There are branches that are broken and just people having to be more aware and let’s prepare for the next time,” Hartman said.

Some areas in the winter storm could expect to see between two to four inches of snow, and there’s a chance that snow could turn into ice.

It’s an outcome that Georgia Power says it’s preparing for with contractors working throughout metro Atlanta before any inclement weather moves in.

“If the snow does turn into ice that can cause issues with pulling down our power lines and causing some issues ... so our vegetation management teams have been out clearing a few trees that our near powerlines. But they do that year round, not specifically around storms,” said Amanda Sowells, a Georgia Power spokesperson.

Georgia Power says it is not too concerned about power outages.

However if there are issues with ice, the utility company says it has crews on standby who are ready to meet the demand of service calls.

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