CLEVELAND, Ga. – A large tree fell across a power line on the west side of Cleveland shortly before noon Thursday, resulting in a major power outage for Habersham Electric customers.
Mary Beth Horton, Director, Community Relations for Habersham Electric Membership Corporation, said at approximately 11:55 am, Thursday, July 23, a tree located outside of Habersham EMC’s right-of-way fell onto a power line along Highway 115 between the Cleveland Substation and Campbell Street, breaking two double-circuit poles and causing outages on both the Shoal Creek and Radio circuits.
According to Horton, “A total of 874 meters initially lost power. Within one minute, Habersham EMC’s automated system and downline devices isolated the outage, reducing the number of affected members to 482 meters.”
Horton also said, “Crews responded immediately and, over the next 1 hour and 14 minutes, manually operated switches to further isolate the outage to just four meters, allowing most members to have their power restored while crews safely replaced the damaged poles. Service was fully restored by 1:09 pm.”
Power crews spent over six hours replacing the poles and reconnecting power lines.
Lt. Donna Sims, Cleveland Police Department, said when the tree fell it ignited a fire; both police and fire personnel responded but were unable to put out the blaze due to the live power lines. Because of the hazard, police closed down one lane of West Kytle Street; later Georgia Department of Transportation personnel arrived and assumed traffic control.
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