WHITE COUNTY, Ga. — The place the ice storm hit the hardest in Georgia may have been White County, where it knocked out power to 90% of the residents.
Emergency management officials said that was during the worst of it for the county 70 miles north of Atlanta, Channel 2’s Berndt Petersen reported.
Power crews have now whittled that down to roughly half the residents – still around 18,000 people.
White County officials said it is like trying to come back from a hurricane.
Duncan Bridge Road remains closed, as it suffered some of the worst of it. Power lines and the trees that fell on them still block the way through.
“Literally, the trees sounded like they were exploding,” Tim McIntyre said.
McIntyre is one of the more than 30,0000 people who lost power during the weekend storm.
“We tend to cry wolf and say prepare for the worst, and then it’s not as bad. This time it was bad,” said Bryce Barrett, Office of Public Safety.
Barrett says more than six-dozen roads had trees down on them. He says on that forced 911 to respond only to life-threatening emergencies Sunday night.
A convoy of power trucks has now fanned out across the area, and Channel 2 Action News was there when crews flipped the switch along State Road 17.
In many spots, the damage looks a lot like what a tornado might do. Some county officials compared this to a Category 2 hurricane.
McIntyre couldn’t believe his eyes.
“I was just standing there watching. It sounded like gunshots going off. Trees snapping everywhere,” he said.
The county has a couple of shelters, and Red Cross is taking charge of them during the emergency.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
©2026 Cox Media Group
