June 10, 2008
Albany -- The aftermath of Monday night's powerful thunderstorm left many parts of Albany in pitch black darkness. Thousands of people were left without power in the city where downed limbs and power lines littered the streets.
"Mostly we have a lot of trees down on the electrical lines," said Charlie Bass, line supervisor with Albany Water, Gas & Light.
Nearly a dozen WG&L crews worked into the early morning hours to restore power to almost 5000 people. Their biggest task, however, was removing trees and limbs that had fallen onto power lines.
"We had a pine tree over on Whispering Pines and Greenwood that fell across the primary and it just broke the whole pole over there," said Bass.
By 3 a.m., about 1000 people were still without power as crews atop bucket trucks cut down remaining limbs and repaired the damaged lines. Water, Gas & Light officials said the majority of the outages were in and around the Whispering Pines area.
Strong winds, heavy rains, and powerful lightning that moved through the area around 8:30 Monday night was responsible for knocking out power to neighborhoods and businesses.
Power outages were reported at Palmyra Nursing Home and Dougherty County's 9-1-1 center. Fortunately, no serious injuries or major damage was reported.
Mitchell EMC reported 230 people without power following the storm. An official with Georgia Power said there were reports of 20 outages in their service area.
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