A house in Atlanta is battered by fallen trees

January 24, 2000
Web posted at: 1:47 p.m. EST (1847 GMT)

In this story: Schools close, shelters open More freezing in forecast RELATED STORIES, SITES

From staff and wire reports

ATLANTA (CNN) -- It could be Tuesday night before power in Georgia is restored to some 150,000 utility customers, mostly in the Atlanta area, who remain without heat or electricity following a weekend ice storm, a power company official told CNN.

RESOURCES Images from the ice storm     MESSAGE BOARD Nature's wrath

The Sunday storm, which toppled trees onto cars and houses, also dropped snow and freezing rain on other parts of the southern Appalachians, and locally heavy rain fell across coastal areas of Georgia and the Carolinas.

Up to 8 inches of snow fell in some areas of North Carolina. Late Sunday, southern Louisiana was hammered by hail as big as golf balls.

More than 70,000 customers also lost power in South Carolina; some 20,000 were blacked out in North Carolina but most were back in service by late Sunday; and about 30,000 residents in northeast Alabama were expected to remain without power until Tuesday.

Alabama, North Carolina, Georgia and South Carolina each blamed one traffic death on the weather. To the west, in Missouri, 10 people were killed in a fiery interstate pileup blamed on slick roads caused by another storm.

Many northern Georgia schools were closed Monday because they had no electricity, and some counties in the two Carolinas and Alabama closed schools Monday because of icy roads.

The Red Cross in Georgia opened seven shelters for people without heat and Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes declared a state of emergency in 20 counties, including several in the metro Atlanta area.

The emergency status lasts for 30 days, during which time the counties may receive state resources and personnel to assist in cleanup and recovery.

Ice-laden tree limbs dragged down power lines in Atlanta

More rain fell in Georgia Monday and while daytime temperatures rose above freezing, the forecast called for an overnight low below the freezing mark.

A winter storm warning was issued for parts of North Carolina.

More than 2,000 utility workers struggled over slippery roads to reach downed power lines.

"This is the worst storm since Hurricane Opal came through in 1996, and it took six days to get power fully restored for that one," said Becky Blaylock, a spokeswoman for Georgia Power, the primary electric utility company in metropolitan Atlanta.

"We hope to have everyone back on by Tuesday evening," said James Peters, another Georgia Power spokesman.

Peters said Monday's above-freezing temperatures would help the 1,500 linemen across the state work faster in repairing downed power lines.

Buzz Weiss, spokesman for the Georgia Emergency Management Agency, said the major tasks were restoring power and clearing storm debris.

"We've had an overwhelming number of requests for assistance with debris clearance on the roads, to allow power crews in, and allow traffic through," Weiss said.

Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport reported no major problems on its Web site Monday, but travelers Sunday had faced long delays as crews de-iced planes.

About 6,000 BellSouth customers across Atlanta were without telephone service Monday, according to spokeswoman Lynn Bress, who said it was unclear when the lines would be repaired.

"Limbs are still falling, so it's a changing situation, so it's hard to give an estimated time (for resumption of service)," Bress said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.