Carter County went 10 rounds with Mother Nature Friday, and continues to hang around through the aftermath.
Severe storms went through Tennessee Friday, resulting in three fatalities, two from Carter County and one in Knox County due to weather-related incidents.
The state entered a State of Emergency July 7 due to severe weather threats from wave-after-wave of heavy rain and high winds impacting the middle and east regions of the state, according to Dean Flener, executive officer for external relations for TEMA.
Elizabethton-Carter County Emergency Management Agency Director Gary Smith told the Elizabethton Star Monday that winds that hit the area impacted trees throughout the area, but damages to houses were light with the severity of the storm.
“This storm did a lot of damages to utilities,” Smith said. “With all the debris, there were numerous reports of power outages across the area.”
Carter County, leading in Johnson County, are primarily served by two departments, the Elizabethton Electric System and Mountain Electric. Smith credited their work in restoring power across the area.
“The areas of Moody Road, Moody Circle and Fish Springs, near Butler, were the most heavily impacted,” Smith said.
The director added that he spoke with Mountain Electric and they had all but phase three power back up and running through the area, with emphasis of restoring power as soon as possible.
For the Elizabethton Electric System, Friday saw approximately 16,000 individuals reporting power outages.
“There’s still a few outages,” Wes Pearson, service supervisor at the department, said Monday. “As of today, we’re looking at around 300 still without power.”
Elizabethton’s facility was nearly barren with the employees working across the county assisting in restoring power. Along with the employees on staff, Pearson added that the company has contracted four crews from Ohio with a company named Elliot, which another crew is assisting from Bristol.
“We’re working to make sure we get everybody situated,” Pearson said. “Everybody in this office, from the workers to everyone inside taking the phone calls and emails, have put fourth 100 percent and I appreciate all their efforts.”
Putting fourth a ton of effort goes across the board when discussing the work happening around the county, according to Smith.
“I honestly couldn’t give a number,” he said about the amount of workers assisting with the incidents.
Carter County Rescue Squad, TEMA, the Carter County Sheriff’s Department, Elizabethton City Police, TDOT, highway departments in the area and various emergency personnel have assisted over the past four days, with no signs of looking back in the coming days.
“It’s still hard to estimate the time it’ll take to restore all the power,” Smith said. “We have a meeting scheduled tomorrow with each of the departments to continue working at clearing the debris.”Smith, along with Pearson, encourage individuals that have power outages to connected their utility provider. Elizabethton Electric can be reached at 423-542-1111 and Mountain Electric’s Mountain City office is 423-727-1800 and their Roan Mountain number is 423-772-3521. Smith added that any people with additional issues following the storm can contact the ECCEMA at 423-542-1888.