High winds knock out power in Clarke, Oconee and other Northeast Georgia counties

High winds during the predawn hours Monday knocked out power for more than 1,840 Georgia Power customers in Oconee County and another 1,252 in Clarke.

Georgia Power reported most of the power outages in Northeast Georgia spread through Oconee, Clarke, Oglethorpe and Greene counties.

Counties north of Athens were less affected. Most of the outages in the Athens area stretched from southern Oconee across eastern Clarke to Winterville, according to Georgia Power.

“A couple of trees took down some power lines and blew a few transformers is my understanding,” Oconee County Sheriff James Hale said about the mass outages.

“We’re running on generator power here at the sheriff’s office now,” Hale said about 10 a.m. Monday, several hours after power went out around 4 a.m.

Walton EMC communications officer Savannah Chandler said about 208 customers were affected, or about 1 percent of the customers in Oconee.

“Our guys are making progress ... but the ones where they have to move trees will take a little bit more time,” she said.

In Athens, numerous traffic lights along Lexington Road were inoperable early Monday.

The National Weather Service issued a wind advisory for Monday, with winds at 25 mph and gusts up to 40 mph.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Power outages in Clarke, Oconee Northeast GA from high winds