County spared major damage from icy weather
As winter storms swept down on Georgia, Gilmer residents prepared for a potential disaster.
“Look out for loved ones, friends and neighbors,” Ingles shopper Jeffrey Settle said on Friday, Jan. 23.
He was buying supplies including water and diapers for his son and daughter-in-law’s family.
“It usually brings out the best in people, because that’s when your neighbors start helping each other,” he said of major winter storms.
However, the storms mostly missed the county.
“We were remarkably blessed that we received as little damage as we did. I’m just thankful that we escaped with minimal damage,” Gilmer Public Works Director Ryan Steingruber said.
In all, 2,600 people in the county lost power.
Other Georgia counties were more affected. Georgia’s Electric Membership Corporations reported that there have been approximately 22,000 outages statewide.
The government also made storm preparations. Gov. Brian Kemp announced a state of emergency for all Georgia counties starting Thursday, Jan. 22.
Kemp called up 500 National Guardsmen and put other emergency responders on standby.
In addition, the Georgia Department of Transportation put salt down on 5,673 miles of roads across the state starting at 7 p.m. Friday.
To prepare for winter storms, residents should cover exposed pipes at home, clean their gutters and stock a three-day supply of food and water.
At Walmart, Ingles, Aldi, Food Lion and Ace Hardware, a wave of last-minute shoppers emptied shelves and left supply lines struggling to keep up.
“Everyone’s coming in to prepare for being without power,” Ace Hardware Inventory Manager Shanan Pittman said.
Before the storm, customers emptied the store’s supply of heaters, propane, and other essential cold weather supplies.
The store was also out of sleds.
“We’ve got one of the bigger heaters, and it’s much more expensive,” Pittman said.
Ace Hardware was busier last week than at Christmas, Pittman said. She worked her day off to help keep the store functioning before the storm.
Pittman estimated that Ace Hardware did twice as much business as a normal week. But she’d prefer to have full shelves for her customers.
“I hate being out,” Pittman said. “We know what people are wanting, but we can’t give it to them, because we don’t have it in here.”
More goods will be at Ace this week.
At Ingles, supplies were holding steady as of last Friday morning.
“Everybody’s buying water,” Store Manager Anthony Kendrick said.
After storms, it can be hard to figure out staffing for the store, he said.
“It’s more a matter of who makes it to work and who doesn’t,” he said.
Kendrick planned to be open all weekend no matter the weather.
“Especially with the mountains, you have to be prepared,” he said.
Employees at Walmart, Aldi and Food Lion weren’t allowed to say anything because of company policy.
For shoppers, preparing for a storm is a balance between hoarding too much and buying too little.
“If you overstock on milk, you don’t want to waste it. You at least want enough for a good few days.,” Gilmer resident Jennifer Griffin said. She was present for the region’s last major ice storm in 1993.
“We did buy milk and bread, but not in abundance,” Griffin said. “Just no more than we usually need.”