Irma’s aftermath in Athens: schools closed, power out

An Athens-Clarke County Police Officer escaped injury when a tree fell on his car during Monday’s storm: it happened on Valleywood Drive on Athens’ east side. His car was damaged.

An estimated 1.5 million Georgians lost electricity during the tropical storm that rumbled across the state Monday: the Georgia Power Company says 900,000 of its customers lost power, with another 600,000 in the dark awaiting EMCs to restore electricity. The Jefferson-based Jackson EMC says more than 63,000 of the homes and businesses it services were impacted by the storm; more than 2,000 of those are here in Athens. Walton EMC, based in Monroe, says it has been dealing with more than 40,000 power outages. 

Trees are down and blocking streets and roads in Athens and Oconee County; there are countless intersections with traffic lights that are either flashing or not working at all. Local law enforcement reminds drivers to treat those intersections as four-way stops. 

The University of Georgia is closed again today, as are Athens Technical College and the University of North Georgia: the campuses are closed in the wake of northeast Georgia's Monday brush with the remnants of Hurricane Irma. Almost of the area school districts that were closed because of Monday's storm are closed again this morning. That includes the schools in Clarke and Oconee counties.

The Athens-Clarke County Leisure Services Department says all of its programs are cancelled for today because of Monday's bad weather. 

A fundraiser that had been scheduled for Athens' Bigger Vision homeless shelter that was scheduled for tonight at the First Presbyterian Church in downtown Athens has been postponed because of the bad weather. The shelter on North Avenue opened Monday to accommodate the local homeless population that was exposed to the remnants of Tropical Storm Irma. 

There are two area deaths that are associated with Tropical Storm Irma: a man was killed when a tree hit his house in Sandy Springs; a woman was killed when a tree fell on her car outside her home in Forsyth County.

MARTA says it will resume limited service today: Atlanta's transit system was shut down Monday because of the storm. 

There is now serious flooding along the Georgia coast: storm surge from Tropical Storm Irma gets the blame for extensive damage in coastal Glynn County and in parts of Savannah.