WAYCROSS, Ga. — Thousands are still without power across Georgia and in the town of Waycross, it could take another week before officials say power could be restored for a majority of customers.
In Waycross, over 14,000 customers are without power and there are still dozens of trees down across the town, some of them sitting on top of power lines.
“We’re running two generators, so we’re using a lot of gas cans. Already got five at the house but I thought I better get an extra. No telling how long we’ll be without power," Raquel Hernandez, who was buying extra gas canisters, said.
Hernandez and Hayley Hickox woke up early Sunday morning, to wait in line at Walmart and pick up supplies for their home, which is still without power.
"Our fence is knocked down, there’s a tree and power lines down all on the dirt roads and everywhere. It’s hard to get around," Hickox, who had a tree fall on her shed, said.
Some businesses have electricity but with trees still blocking roads and crushing power lines, Georgia Power Crews are working to restore power for over 14,000 Waycross customers.
“There was a lot of damage, this is one of the most destructive hurricanes we've seen...It is a huge undertaking, and I understand that this is taking a while," Matthew Kent, a Georgia Power spokesperson, said. “The issues right now are, there’s still some trees falling in some areas, there are still trees down on power lines.”
While restoration is underway, officials warn customers across Georgia to look out for scams and remind customers that Georgia Power workmen will never charge you for restoration.
However, customers are also reminded to check for damage on their meter box, which falls under the homeowner's responsibility.
"Understand that your local meter box at your house, if that is damaged, go ahead and get an electrician out to look at it now because Georgia Power can not restore power to that meter box if it is damaged. The meter box itself is the responsibility of the homeowner, so just to expedite the process if you see that your meter box is damaged go ahead and get an electrician out," Kent said.
The estimated restoration date for 95% of customers is Oct. 5. That means, some residents could have electricity back in the coming days, but it will take time before the town is fully powered.
“Got to keep going for my granny. I help her out, we’re staying with her cause we live next door so were all in one house together staying together, piled up," Hernandez said.
To check the status of an outage in your neighborhood or the estimated restoration time, well you can head to georgiapower.com for a full outage map.