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Flood brings challenges not usually seen

The flooding rains that deluged wide swaths of the state of Georgia last month caused a lot of problems for a lot of people, but Georgia Power was able to handle the situation and help customers start to get their lives back in order.

More than 60,000 customers lost power at some time during the storms, which saw very little high wind but record rainfall and frequent lightning. North Georgia and particularly the Atlanta area and its northern suburbs got the heaviest dose of rain and thunderstorms, adding to 18 to 20 inches of total rainfall in some areas.

Through it all, Georgia Power crews achieved Target Zero, with no injuries or incidents despite very difficult conditions. In a short period, every customer who could receive power had power.

There are still hundreds of homes that cannot receive power due to flood damage, and many customers and even employees suffered long-lasting impacts from the floodwaters. John D'Andrea, distribution manager, said his crews are used to dealing with ice storms and hurricanes, but this presented a new set of issues.

"Roads were closed, bridges were closed or damaged to the point you couldn't travel on them," he said. "Maneuvering around to where you needed to get was a real challenge. It wasn't like a tornado or hurricane, where it blows in or leaves. This just continued to gradually get worse."

A couple of generating plants experienced floodwaters, but no real operational issues. At Plant Yates, near Newnan, water from the swollen Chattahoochee River inundated parts of the plant. At Plant McDonough-Atkinson in Smyrna, water from the Chattahoochee caused problems at the security area of the construction /contractor entrance. The office trailer flooded and the security badge system died, and both had to be replaced.

High flow conditions were reported at several hydro facilities in north Georgia, triggering notifications to government agencies and nearby residents, but no actual emergencies were expected. Georgia Power's hydro dams recorded their third highest September with approximately 140,000 megawatt-hours of output - only 2004 and 1994 were higher.

When combined, Southern Company's hydro total of 581,000 megawatt-hours was the second highest September output ever - only behind 2004.