The Israel residence near Pope High School was one of the last serviced by Cobb EMC that was still without power Tuesday. (East Cobb News photo by Wendy Parker)
UPDATED, WEDNESDAY, 1:20 P.M.:
Murray Israel followed up to say that electricity was restored to his home Tuesday night, but the family was still without heat until this morning because the furnace had to be repaired. It was damaged when a transformer blew out during the storm.
ORIGINAL REPORT POSTED TUESDAY, 5:47 P.M.:
On Tuesday morning, Murray Israel made yet another call to report a service outage to Cobb EMC. His East Cobb family, without power for nearly four days, was among the last customers waiting for the lights—and heat—to come back on.
He placed a service ticket with Cobb EMC, which has been indicating that the Israel residence on Ethan Drive, about a mile from Pope High School, has had its power restored.
Except by late Tuesday afternoon, that wasn’t the case.
For the last three nights, Israel and his wife have kept warm by the fireplace, and later huddled under blankets in the dark, and the cold, while their children have stayed with friends. Everyone else in their Hembree Hills subdivision has had power restored.
Israel was hoping Tuesday would be the day the lights went back on, since he and his family were eager to observe the first night of Hanukkah.
“It’s the Festival of Lights, and we have no lights,” Israel said in a phone interview with East Cobb News, whom he contacted about his situation, frustrated by Cobb EMC’s response. “It’s really, really cold” in the house.
He estimated the temperature inside was around 40 degrees, not much different than Tuesday’s high temperature, and didn’t want to spend another night like the last three.
While the area that includes the Israels’ neighborhood was hard-hit by the winter storms, his particular issue is down to the micro-level. Israel said he noticed downed lines linking a transformer to his house.
“Our problem is just down to our house,” he said. “It’s an isolated situation that’s not affecting anyone but us.”
Kevan Espy, Cobb EMC’s senior vice president for marketing and corporate communications, told East Cobb News around 3 p.m. Tuesday that fewer than 200 of its customers—174, to be exact—were still without power, and that the electric cooperative’s goal was to be down to none by the end of the day.
“I would love to have this all taken care of later tonight,” Espy said of the remaining outages.
For the Israels, sundown also means the beginning of their religious observance. Tentative plans called for a family dinner out, for warmth and light, as much as food.
The storm, which began on Friday, knocked out service to an estimated 69,000 Cobb EMC customers, or about 40 percent of its customer base.
Espy said Cobb EMC called in additional crews from Florida, Tennessee, Alabama and elsewhere in Georgia to conduct around-the-clock repairs that in some places were more difficult than expected.
“It’s individual service calls like this that we’re down to tackling now,” he said, referring to the Israels’ outage.
Israel said his frustration was compounded by being told by customer service representatives the same thing over and over—that his lights were on when they weren’t—and not getting a satisfactory response when he sent a message via Twitter.
He said he’s filed a complaint with the Georgia Public Service Commission, but more than anything just wants to lights to come back on.
There were thousands of power outages in that particular area of Northeast Cobb. Hembree Hills is located between North Hembree Road and Davis Road, which was closed until Sunday afternoon due to downed trees and power lines.
Even on Tuesday, as East Cobb began to thaw out and students returned to school, work crews were still busy. Downed trees and branches were laying by the side of Holly Springs Road and Hembree Road, not far from Pope. Another crew was working on traffic light signalization at Holly Springs and Post Oak Tritt Road.
A message sent by Cobb County Government Tuesday morning said Cobb officials estimate the nearly 12 inches reported in some areas to be an all-time high in the county for a single storm.
By mid-morning Tuesday, nearly 200 locations around the county were being checked for debris and tree removal, according to Cobb spokesman Ross Cavitt, and that final clean-up may not be until after Christmas.
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Trees at the Marietta Campground covered with snow. (East Cobb News photos by Wendy Parker)
We did get out and around East Cobb Sunday afternoon, as did many other East Cobbers needing food and other provisions (including Christmas trees) and trying to get back to normal.
Many businesses and restaurants were also open, and most roads with downed trees and power lines had been cleared.
As was reported earlier today, Cobb schools will be closed Monday, due to icy roads expected in the morning, and because some schools still do not have electrical power.
We haven’t gotten details on which schools were without power, but icy road conditions across the county are expected for Monday; temperatures are expected to reach into the low 50s, along with the same sunny skies we’ve had since Saturday.
Send us your photos and news!
Share your winter weather pictures, and we’ll post them, as well as business or other closings or cancellations. E-mail editor@eastcobbnews.com.
As of 5:20 p.m. Sunday, Cobb EMC estimated that about 5,000 of its customers are still without power (outage map), and that a broken power line on Ebenezer Road in Northeast Cobb is still among those needing repair.
Earlier today we also noted that there was only one road in the county that was closed, and that was the roundabout at Holly Springs Road and Davis Road. It was open when we drove through there shortly after 3 p.m. (photo just below); if you’re heading north on Holly Springs you may notice a few tree limbs hanging close to a power line, which apparently had been the cause of the closure.
We then traveled eastbound on Shallowford Road, from Sandy Plains to Johnson Ferry, there were some patches of ice, since there wasn’t a lot of direct sunshine. In particular, there were icy spots in the right eastbound lane on Shallowford between Sandy Plains and Lassiter Road, so if you’re in that area, take precautions and slow down, especially at the intersections of Wesley Chapel Road, North Hembree Road and Old Suttons Way (just below).
Johnson Ferry Road was well traveled around 3:30 p.m., and as traffic increased for the Johnson Ferry Baptist Church Christmas Festival service that began at 4 p.m. There’s another service at 7 p.m., and there are police officers directing traffic.
Heading westbound on Lower Roswell Road was almost pure slush, especially between Indian Hills Parkway and Old Canton Road. Unlike Shallowford, this stretch of Lower Roswell was getting a lot of direct sunlight, but with temperatures freezing overnight it figures to be treacherous for Monday morning traffic.
Here’s what we have on openings/closings for Monday as of 5:30 p.m. Sunday. Please e-mail your news/photos to: editor@eastcobbnews.com:
Cobb public libraries will be open;
St. Catherine’s Episcopal Church preschool and St. Ann Catholic preschool are closed Monday;
Classes at The Walker School are closed Monday. The U.S. Science exam will start at 12pm, the campus will open to U.S. arrivals at 11:30am. This is the only exam tomorrow and includes 8th grade students taking the Biology exam. The Lower School chorus concert will occur as planned at 7 p.m.;
Ronald Sachs Violins will be open from 3-6 on Monday;
High Meadows Schools will be closed Monday;
East Cobb Pediatrics will be open on Monday;
A Monday holiday concert of the Sprayberry High School chorus also is cancelled since there will be no school tomorrow.
Students (and we hope some adults!) get to enjoy a continuation of a most unexpected winter wonderland in East Cobb, two weeks before Christmas.
The entrance to the Willow Ridge subdivision at Robinson Road.
Send news of opening/closing/cancellations and photos of the snow near you to: editor@eastcobbnews.com.
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Cobb schools posted this notice on its Twitter account just a few moments ago:
All Cobb County schools are closed Monday, December 11, for both students and staff, due to continued power outages at multiple schools and poor travel conditions on secondary roads in the northern part of the county.
ORIGINAL REPORT, POSTED 12:47 P.M. SUNDAY:
By noon Sunday, East Cobb was still digging out of snowy and icy weather as temperatures gradually began to rise above freezing.
Work crews were out early Sunday morning, treating roads, removing trees and restoring power. Some areas of East Cobb were affected.
The only remaining road closure in the county is in East Cobb, at the intersection of Davis Road and Holly Springs Road, according to Cobb DOT. There, power lines were tangled with trees, and even after repair work is complete, motorists are advised not to travel through that area (where the roundabout is located).
Bill Shelton, Cobb DOT’s road maintenance manager, said in a statement that “We hope to have the majority of trees cleaned up by mid-afternoon. We’ll spend much of the week picking up the debris off the right-of-way. It will be a long week, but we are up to the task.”
Cobb DOT crews treated roads overnight Saturday into Sunday, treating “black ice” on roads as temperatures dropped into the low 20s, refreezing melted snow and water. More than 50 locations were treated.
Cobb DOT crews also are dealing with tree removal issues on major roads and in county right-of-way areas today. A total of 55 calls were addressed by right before 8 a.m. Sunday, with another hundred or so remaining.
Send us your photos and news!
Share your winter weather pictures, and we’ll post them, as well as business or other closings or cancellations. E-mail editor@eastcobbnews.com.
Some East Cobbers were still without power this morning, some for more than a day since several inches of snow began falling on Friday afternoon.
East Cobb United Methodist Church, on Roswell Road near East Piedmont Road, did not hold services today because it’s still without electricity. The same was the case for St. Andrew United Methodist Church on Canton Road, which also cancelled a holiday concert scheduled for Sunday.
By mid Sunday morning, Cobb EMC reported that it was still working on repairing several broken utility poles in the county, including Ebenezer Road in East Cobb.
Around 5,000 Cobb EMC customers, some of them in East Cobb, were still without power by mid-morning. The agency said it cannot estimate the time when service might be restored.
Earlier this morning, Cobb EMC said it is still working in that area, and in portions along Paper Mill Road, to restore electricity. Here’s an outage map that indicates more detail; those who haven’t reported outages should call 770-429-2100.
Georgia Power offered some general time blocks for restoring power to affected areas, including by 3 p.m. in metro Atlanta and by 6 p.m. in Atlanta North.
Its latest outage map shows that most customers in metro Atlanta who have lost power have had it restored, with most remaining issues in north Georgia.
OPENINGS/CLOSINGS, ETC.
Here’s the latest on what we know, at around noon Sunday. Send your news/photos to: editor@eastcobbnews.com and we’ll add it here, or in future posts:
Lutheran Church of the Resurrection cancelled all Sunday services and is postponing today’s Christmas Pageant and Advent Dinner to a later date;
Cactus Car Wash is open from 12-6 today;
The Pope Showcase of the Arts that was scheduled for today has been postponed to Sunday, December 17th at 7:30 p.m.;
As of now (around 12:30 p.m. Sunday), the Atlanta Youth Wind Symphony concert at 4 p.m. at the Lassiter HS concert hall is still going on as scheduled;
The Johnson Ferry Christmas Festival concerts at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. are still scheduled as of now, and a makeup concert from Saturday will take place at 7 p.m. Monday;
Sunday ChrisTeen classes at Transfiguration Catholic Church (4:30 and 7:30 p.m.) are cancelled;
The Carols for Christmas concert at Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church at 6 p.m. is still scheduled;
The St. Nicholas Holiday Market scheduled from 12-4 today at Holy Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Catholic Church is being postponed to next Sunday, Dec. 17, as power at the church was only restored at midnight;
The Empty Bowl Brunch today at The Art Place-Mountain View also is being postponed a week, to Sunday, Dec. 17. If you have tickets and cannot make it next week, please contact The Art Place on Monday for a refund; the event is a benefit for MUST Ministries;
A Monday holiday concert of the Sprayberry High School chorus also is cancelled since there will be no school tomorrow;
Here are some social media postings yesterday and today from around East Cobb; we’ve also been iced in at East Cobb News and are going to try and get out a little bit today!
Send news of opening/closing/cancellations and photos of the snow near you to: editor@eastcobbnews.com.
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Snowfall estimates in Cobb County range from two to eight inches, and freezing temperatures are in the Saturday night forecast.
UPDATED, 4:30 P.M. SATURDAY:
Shortly after 3 p.m. Saturday, Cobb EMC indicated that around 16,000 customers were still without power combined in all of its five counties of service, with the following numbers of customers without power in the following East Cobb ZIP codes:
30062: 1,624
30066: 2,621
30067: 536
30068: 990
30075: 1,620 (Cobb and Fulton)
In a Tweet sent out at 4:15 p.m., Cobb EMC said its hardest-hit areas that remained in East Cobb were along Lower Roswell Road, Little Willeo Road, Timber Ridge Road and Sandy Plains Road.
Georgia Power doesn’t have a number of customers still needing power to be restored, and says it can’t give estimates on when the lights will go back on, but also has been updating an outage map.
Although temperatures have risen above freezing this afternoon, and combined with sunshine have caused some melting of snow, state and local officials are urging citizens to stay home for the rest of Saturday, since freezing temperatures will be in effect.
All of metro Atlanta and north Georgia has been subjected to downed trees and power lines, and work is underway to clear them.
At 3 p.m. Cobb government sent a message saying that the county DOT is undertaking tree removal tasks.
“Most main roads are considered to be in good shape,” the DOT message said, indicating that crews will be out again on Sunday “to make sure every road is open by the end of the weekend.”
Residents should report downed trees by calling Cobb County 911.
The Bethlehem Walk holiday event scheduled for 7-9 Saturday at Mountain View United Methodist Church has been cancelled, as it was on Friday.
SUNDAY CHURCH SERVICE UPDATES:
While some businesses—and especially restaurants—have decided to open today, at least for dinner service, many remain closed. The weather situation also is prompting some churches to call off or reschedule not only holiday events scheduled for the weekend, but also Sunday services. Here’s what we have thus far:
Piedmont Church will not be holding Sunday services after earlier cancelling its Christmas Festival that had been scheduled for Friday and Saturday;
Johnson Ferry Baptist Church has cancelled its Christmas Festival services that were scheduled for 4 and 7 today. The Sunday Christmas Festival services slated for 4 and 7 on Sunday are still on for now, and a service has been added for 7 p.m. Monday to make up for today’s cancellations. The 8:30 a.m. worship service and related Bible Studies or activities will be held on Sunday, but the 9:50 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. worship services and Bible Studies, and activities scheduled around them are still on;
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church is holding regular worship services Saturday and Sunday;
St. Catherine’s Episcopal Church is holding one combined service at 11:15 a.m. Church school classes and the 7:45 and 8:45 services are cancelled;
Mt. Zion United Methodist Church also is holding just one service Sunday, at 11 a.m.;
Catholic Church of St. Ann will have most regular Sunday services and events as scheduled, except for hospitality hour;
Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church will have an 11 a.m. service only at its Lower Roswell campus. Here’s more, per the church’s Facebook page: “Nursery will be available, but all Sunday school classes and breakfast are cancelled, and shuttles will not run. Carols for Christmas is still planned for 6pm. North Campus will hold its 10:30 service only. All other NC activities are cancelled.”
We’ve got other openings/closings/cancellations listed below that we posted earlier, with some additions.
Send us your photos and news!
Share your winter weather pictures, and we’ll post them, as well as business or other closings or cancellations. E-mail editor@eastcobbnews.com.
ORIGINAL REPORT, POSTED AT 11:37 A.M. SATURDAY:
By mid-morning Saturday, the sun was starting to sneak out in East Cobb, and some of Friday’s record snowfall was starting to melt away.
But citizens throughout metro Atlanta and north Georgia are being asked to stay off the roads if at all possible today as work crews travel to repair downed electrical lines and trees, restore power and prepare roads for sub-freezing temperatures tonight.
So you’re being asked to enjoy this holiday winter wonderland at home, at least for another day.
As was the case on Friday, many East Cobb businesses are closed, holiday and other events have been cancelled or postponed all day Saturday.
There are still some Georgia Power and Cobb EMC customers without power in East Cobb, although western and more northern portions of the county were harder hit.
Georgia Power has been posting most of the morning that it is not able to give estimated times for restoration of power. It is updating on its outage map.
Cobb EMC is reporting “high volume with our outage reporting channels,” and also is tracking via an outage map that is working intermittently.
More than 30,000 Cobb EMC customers in the county are without power, including an estimated 7,500 customers in the East Cobb area.
Of those East Cobb outages, around 3,200 have been reported in the 30066 ZIP Code of Northeast Cobb. Cobb EMC has asked for outside help from crews in middle Georgia and other parts of the state as it works to restore power.
Cobb EMC is asking those without power to call 770-429-2100. If the call volume is high (you’re likely to get a constant busy signal), e-mail your outage to memberservices@cobbemc.com. While you won’t get a reply, Cobb EMC said it is logging all e-mails.
Traffic accidents have been reported just about everywhere, with vehicles stranded beside roads, and the hazards of downed trees and power lines are widespread. Here’s what Cobb DOT issued right before 10 a.m. Saturday:
Major roads are mostly passable, but avoid traveling unless absolutely necessary;
Reports of 100 trees down countywide, crews are still in the process of clearing 50 of those;
Another 1.5 inches of snow fell overnight. Reports of 7+ inches in parts of the county are common.
Here’s another update from Cobb DOT, sent at 11:20 a.m.:
Cobb DOT crews working 12-hour shifts have kept most of the main roads passable, but the 911 center has taken hundreds of calls about trees down many blocking roads. Cobb DOT is calling in extra tree-cutting crews at noon to help PARKS crews already dealing with the increasing amount of calls.
Cobb residents that encounter trees blocking roadways or on power lines should report those locations to Cobb County 911.
“We’re hoping the sun stays out and the breeze helps clear the moisture off the roadways,” said Bill Shelton, Cobb County Road Maintenance Division Manager. “If the roads can dry up before temperatures drop back below freezing that would be the best-case scenario.”
Most of the main roads closed by downed trees had been reopened by 11 a.m., but other calls were coming in. Road sensors across the county were reporting temperatures several degrees above freezing.
Here’s else what we know, as of 10:30-11 a.m. or so, about what’s open and what’s not in East Cobb, and what’s been cancelled. Some of this information is obviously very fluid and subject to change. We’re getting e-mails and monitoring social media traffic for most of these items, so please let us know if we need to make a correction/update.
We will be posting significant updates at the top of this post if/when they become available:
CLOSED/CANCELLED
All Cobb public library branches, Cobb Linc service also will be out of operation;
Piedmont Church Christmas Festival is cancelled and is not being rescheduled;
All Upward Basketball games and pictures have been cancelled at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church, as have today’s Christmas Festival services. They’re still on for Sunday at 4 and 7 and a 7 p.m. Monday service that’s been added;
Righteous Que restaurant is closed;
Montrose Animal Hospital is closed, Saturday appointments will be rescheduled starting Monday, dropoff for pets with boarding reservations accepted until 2 p.m. today around the back;
Chattahoochee Nature Center is closed all day;
All Saturday services at Transfiguration Catholic Church are cancelled, as well as the 8 a.m. Sunday Mass;
C’est Moi is closed all day Saturday.
OPENINGS/DELAYED STARTS
Loyal Q and Brew restaurant opening at 11 a.m. with limited staff on hand;
The WellStar East Cobb Urgent Care is open from noon to 7 p.m. today;
Simply Fresh Market is open from 12-4 today;
Chick-fil-A Lassiter is tentatively opening between 11:30 a.m. and noon with a limited menu;
Rose and Crown Tavern is closed for lunch and is tentatively planning to open for dinner service at 6 p.m.;
Seed, Stem Wine Bar and Drift are opening for dinner service at 5 p.m.;
Bradley’s Bar & Grill and Zeal Restaurant & Bar are both open Saturday;
Frankie’s Italian Restaurant on Roswell Road opened at 12 pm.;
WZ Tavern on Shallowford Road is open Saturday;
GTC Merchants Walk Cinema is open Saturday;
Both locations of Moxie Burger and La Novia Taqueria will be open until 8 p.m. Saturday;
Black Swan Tavern opening was delayed to 4 p.m. Saturday.
Some East Cobb social media postings to share below, illustrating the depth of the snow, and the danger of the ice underneath that will be freezing again tonight:
Hoping everyone is warm and safe. Don’t forget to work on that jump shot. ❄️ 🏀 pic.twitter.com/wNQAVt5gA4
Send news of opening/closing/cancellations and photos of the snow near you to: editor@eastcobbnews.com.
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