Anniversary of Hurricane Helene reinforces importance of severe weather preparedness for Georgia Power and customers
Anniversary of Hurricane Helene reinforces importance of severe weather preparedness for Georgia Power and customers |
| [26-September-2025] |
One year ago: Georgia Power mobilized its largest restoration operation ever to respond to the most destructive storm in the company's history; 2025 Atlantic Hurricane Season continues with storms developing that could impact Coastal Georgia ATLANTA, Sept. 26, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- One year ago today, Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida as a Category 4 hurricane before entering Georgia as a Category 2 storm, barreling through the state leaving behind unprecedented devastation. With 53 counties declared major disaster sites by FEMA, Helene became the most destructive hurricane in Georgia Power's 140-year history — causing more damage than hurricanes Michael, Irma, and Matthew combined. Ultimately, Georgia Power restored 1.5 million total customer outages following the storm.
But Georgia Power was ready. The company monitors weather conditions and potential threats to the power grid 24 hours a day, and anticipated severe damage from Helene more than a week in advance. The company took steps to prepare early for the storm, including mobilizing additional staff from across the industry and pre-positioning restoration workers, equipment, and supplies near areas of anticipated impact including extra transformers, poles, cables, wires and other equipment. For Helene, the company mobilized its largest restoration operation in its history – 20,000+ personnel, including every Georgia Power crew and teams from 35+ assisting partner companies across the U.S. and Canada, worked tirelessly to restore power and rebuild critical infrastructure. The company repaired or replaced 11,800+ power poles, 1,500+ miles of power lines, 5,800+ transformers, and addressed 3,200+ trees impacting lines. In some areas, the damage was so severe that crews had to rebuild portions of the power grid from the ground up. Despite the scale of destruction, 95% of impacted customers had power restored within 8 days, with 523,000+ restored within the first 48 hours. Georgia Power has launched Circuit Cast – a new podcast available on Apple Podcasts. In the inaugural episode, Walt Dukes, distribution manager for Georgia Power, reflects on the anniversary of Hurricane Helene and his experience managing restoration efforts in Augusta. Click here to listen. 2025 Atlantic Hurricane Season Underway
Georgia Power Response to Hurricane Helene Recognized "The worst from Hurricane Helene certainly brought out the best in every Georgia Power employee – starting with our line workers on the front lines of our response to the historic storm, aided and supported by every other employee who participated in restoration and rebuilding in the aftermath and months following. This award from EEI is a testament to their shared dedication and commitment to our neighbors and communities, and the excellence they bring in service for our customers when it counts the most," said Kim Greene, chairman, president and CEO of Georgia Power. "I'm honored to be a part of this incredible team and couldn't be more grateful for their dedication and commitment to being here for Georgia every day." Read more about Georgia Power's response to the historic Hurricane Helene at www.georgiapower.com/helene. About Georgia Power
SOURCE Georgia Power | ||
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