By Ty Tagami
Bureau Chief
Capitol Beat News Service
With an ice storm named Fern bearing down on Georgia Saturday afternoon, Gov. Brian Kemp activated the National Guard, staging 120 members to deploy to the northeast part of the state, where ice and wind were expected to cause the most disruption.
The Guardsmen will be organized into strike teams, deploying as needs arise, his office said. They are expected to help clear routes and assist as needed.
Georgia Power was expecting the storm to begin causing problems overnight, and said it had 10,000 personnel ready to restore power.
"The current forecast continues to predict freezing rain and subfreezing temperatures over several days, which is expected to cause power outages across a wide part of the state," the company said Saturday evening. "Ice adds weight to tree branches, increasing the chances they will snap and fall onto power lines."
Georgia EMC said it had extra utility poles, wires, connectors and transformers ready, with vendors on standby to supply more material.
In a briefing Thursday, state meteorologist Will Lanxton warned of extreme icing of up to an inch.
"When you're talking an inch of ice, that rivals some of the biggest ice storms we've ever had in the state," he said. "And not only are you talking about impossible travel conditions, you're talking about power outages that may not be able to be fixed for days."
This article is available through a partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Association's nonprofit, tax-exempt Educational Foundation.