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A tree hangs over power lines on County Road 240 just west of the State Road 47 intersection Thursday morning, causing power outages for hundreds in the area. (JAMIE WACHTER/Lake City Reporter)
While millions lost power across the state from Hurricane Ian, few here felt the storm’s wrath.
By late Thursday morning, Clay Electric Cooperative had nearly 1,100 consumers without power in Columbia County, while Suwannee Valley Electric Cooperative had just 213 outages total in its coverage area.
With the storm shifting east and causing minimal impacts locally, Columbia County officials were discussing Thursday morning about cutting back on their storm response.
“We are watching and waiting a little bit longer before making official decisions,” said Paula Vann, the county’s spokesperson. “But if things stay as is we will be ramping down later today.”
Vann said the county had received word of just a few trees that fell Wednesday night but those issues had been resolved by Thursday morning.
One tree that fell overnight was on County Road 240 in Columbia City near the State Road 47 interchange.
That tree, which fell on power lines, caused 541 of Clay’s outages in the county.
SVEC had 158 consumers in Columbia County without power Thursday morning, along with 50 in Suwannee County and four in Hamilton and one in Lafayette counties.