Georgia Power, Delta Air Lines, state officials plan for Helene’s impact

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – Officials with Georgia Power, airlines, and state officials are planning for Helene’s impact on Georgia as meteorologists predict a severe weather event.

“This is going to be a fast-moving wind event with rain,” said Chris Stallings, director of the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency.

Government officials are making sure they’re ready to move Georgians to safety.

“Currently, you’ll see troopers out engaged in clearing major interstates and major roadways for abandoned vehicles to ensure that those evacuating areas can do so safely,” said Stallings.

With Gov. Brian Kemp declaring a state of emergency, 500 National Guardsmen and women are ready to deploy where they’re needed. Georgia Power linemen are also ready to spread across the state’s 159 counties.

FULL COVERAGE: Tropical Storm Helene

“We’ll use drone technology and damage assessment crews to go look at the lines and see where the problems are, and get linemen out into the field to fix the lines,” said Matthew Kent with Georgia Power.

Georgia Power employees will be operating their storm center 24 hours a day, even sleeping at headquarters, to keep an eye on where power outages are happening.

“We’ve been developing our smart grid and our self-healing grid over the years,” said Kent. “And one of the advantages of that is if we do see a downed powerline or a sector that is out, we may be able to reroute power to homes that are not directly impacted by that downed power line, and get them back as soon as possible.”

Airlines are also keeping an eye on Helene.

“Delta teams in our Operations and Customer Center in Atlanta continue to monitor the projected path of Tropical Storm Helene and will make adjustments to flight schedules as needed. The safety of our customers and people is our top priority,” said a spokesperson from Delta Air Lines.

“We are closely monitoring Tropical Storm Helene. We encourage our customers who are traveling to, from or through areas that could be affected by Tropical Storm Helene to take advantage of our waiver policies,” said a spokesperson with United Airlines.

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