Georgia Power works to restore power

ATLANTA — Georgia Power crews worked throughout Monday night and into Tuesday to restore electricity to a southwest Atlanta neighborhood after a power line fell.

Gusty winds fueled by a storm menacing the East Coast toppled a huge oak tree into power lines in the Niskey Lake subdivision on County Line Road. The storm, Sandy, has left millions without power and is being blamed for at least 39 deaths nationwide. Locally, strong winds knocked a tree limb onto a toddler at a Winder day care, leaving him critically injured.

Georgia Power said most of the major power outages had been repaired by noon, including about 1,000 homes in the south Coweta County area. But there will still 2,000 power outages by 4 p.m. statewide, 1,500 of which were in metro Atlanta.

"We're trying to get the customers' power back on as quick as we can," said Georgia Power crew member Scotty Burkes. "We just keep going until we get them back on."
 
Burkes said he spent 26 hours to get power restored around metro Atlanta, though a Georgia Power representative said the company is looking into that because that surpasses the recommended number of consecutive work hours.

Neighbors, including Clifton Beeks, said they appreciated the effort when power was restored Tuesday morning.
 
"It was dark," said Beeks.  "It was extremely dark.  No lights, no power, not anything."
 
Ben Thompson, a former tree surgeon, took some of the toppled oak home as firewood.
 
"They told me I could come by and get a little wood," said Thompson.

He added the firewood would probably last him the rest of the year.

WSBTV