A First Alert Weather Day was lifted early Friday after severe storms sparked scattered power outages across parts of the region, while several schools and institutions closed ahead of bad weather expected from Thursday evening into early Friday.
The sky may have calmed, but the lights didn’t—at least not for everyone.
A First Alert Weather Day was lifted after severe storms caused some power outages in the area. First Alert Meteorologist Malik Bryant said the alert was allowed to expire just before 3 a.m. Friday.
Even before the storm fully arrived, the impact was already showing up. There were power outages and early closures ahead of the system.
Around 3:30 p.m. Thursday, a report came in of a large tree down on Banks Mill Road at Woodvale Lane in Aiken County. Dominion Energy said about 44 customers were without power in connection with the outage.
Across the Savannah River in Richmond County, 2080 customers were reported out of power in an area around Doctors Hospital. By late Thursday evening, the Georgia Power outage map showed more than 270 customers without power. Aiken Electric Cooperative reported that more than 560 customers were still without power.
Closures began before the worst window of the forecast. Various institutions shut down early in preparation for bad weather expected between 7 p.m. Thursday and 7 a.m. Friday.
Augusta Technical College closed all locations at 4 p.m. The college planned to operate virtually, and students were urged to check Blackboard for course updates. More information was available at augustatech.edu.
First Alert Weather Day severe storms power outages Augusta Aiken County Richmond County Banks Mill Road Woodvale Lane Doctors Hospital Augusta Technical College early closures Malik Bryant
So the alert got “lifted” but people still don’t have power? Cool cool.
I guess the storm didn’t get as bad as they thought, but Dominion and Georgia Power maps still show outages. How does that make sense if it’s over at 3am? Somebody’s timeline is wrong.
Tree down on Banks Mill Road sounds like it was the whole problem, not “severe storms” or whatever. 44 customers is nothing compared to 270 lol. Also why are they closing schools so early like it’s always gonna be Armageddon.
My friend said Augusta Tech going virtual was pointless because the power went out anyway, like even the internet is gone. 2080 people out by Doctors Hospital?? That’s wild. And First Alert just expires right before 3 a.m. like that fixes the lights.