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ZEBULON - Pike County experienced another storm on the night of April 10/April 11 that brought down trees all over the county and left many without power.

Pike County Times took photos of the cleanup in Zebulon and Reidsboro and Drew Allen Road areas. Both of these areas showed evidence of downed trees from earlier storms in this storm season.

These winds moved trampolines and smaller house items that weren’t secured and caused broken power poles in conjunction with knocking down trees throughout the county.

There were a couple of rescues from vehicles, but no one was injured and no one was trapped in their home during this storm.

Sheriff’s Office

Major David Neal advised that there were 36 storm related calls that came into E-911 since 10 p.m. on the night of the storm.

E-911 helped coordinate marking and removing downed trees through emergency responders.

Fire Department

Pike County Fire Department personnel responded to more than 20 storm related calls between 10 p.m. and 1 a.m. in the early morning hours of April 11th.

Three possible fires were reported but downgraded to transformer issues or power lines smoking.

Six calls were responded to involving vehicle accidents with down trees.

Multiple calls were received for power lines across roadways and downed trees blocking roads.

Fire personnel assisted with removing trees from roadways.

City of Zebulon

There was a tree blocking Jackson Street (New Hope Road but within the City Limits) that required blocking off the road and keeping an officer with blue lights in the area until Georgia Power could respond to turn off the electricity to that line so the tree could be cut and removed since the tree was touching the power line.

There were multiple healthy trees laying over with their entire root balls uprooted on Franklin Street. Lines were tangled in at least one large tree as it fell over and disrupted power for citizens on that street.

Pike County Times walked the area with the homeowner, took photos, and talked to city employees and a worker from Georgia Power who came into the area.

City Administrator Larry Mitcham said thank you to the city employees for “their thorough and prompt response in addressing the damage from the storm.”

Southern Rivers Energy

Pike County Times talked to Erin at Southern Rivers Energy the morning after the storm, and she told me that they are making progress, but there were 91 separate outages affecting 2,600 meters in locations spread across nine counties.

Crews found 24 broken poles, including several three-phase poles, that took 3 to 4 hours to replace. They had assistance from 6 co-ops to help restore power as soon as possible.

The latest news came in a social media post today advising that as of 9 a.m. this morning, “there were 16 outages affecting 73 meters in Pike, Lamar and Monroe counties, and they were hoping to have the power fully restored to all that could be restored, with the exception of those with damage to the home or service entrance panel, by this afternoon.”

“Also, we’d like to give a shoutout to our extremely thoughtful member who discreetly dropped off Black Rifle energy drinks on the back of our bucket trucks yesterday morning after our guys had been working all night! They were well-received!”

EMA

Pike Emergency Management Agency (EMA) Director Jim Totten advised that Pike County had winds come through the county that were 60 miles per hour (mph) and above. He released a statement that addressed questions about whether a possible tornado had come through the county.

"I have spoken to NWS this morning about the storms that moved through Pike area last night. They confirmed that we did not have a tornado. We had very strong straight line winds of 60+ mph. Straight line winds can cause just as much damage as tornadoes and often look similar. They sound just like tornadoes. They will have paths like tornadoes."

"An EF 0 tornado speed starts at 65 mph. We had wind speeds around there. If you remember about 6 weeks ago we had very strong downdrafts that looked like a tornado came through. We had a least 20 trees down on roadways and multiple ones down on power lines. Crews are still out restoring power. "

"It seems the northern part of the county received the strongest wind, but trees were brought down in many areas. "

Closing

A county building is included in the damage. The building next to the Sheriff’s Office that houses the Tax Assessor, Tax Commissioner, Planning and Zoning, and Registrar’s offices had its roof peeled over to one side by the wind.

Offices may open as soon as Wednesday, but the roof will have to be fixed as well as telephone and internet being reconnected to that building. Keep an eye on social media for first word on when these offices will open.

Pike County Times spoke with Tax Commissioner Donna Chapman who advised that citizens will not be penalized for late submission due to the storm damage.

Thank you to all who responded to the storm and helped clear roads, rescue citizens on the roads, and got the power back on.

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