Utility crews have been working since noon to restore power to Bryan County customers.
As of 7 p.m., about 3,500 Coastal Electric and Georgia Power customers in South Bryan remained without power. That is down from more than 16,000 earlier in the day. Another 350 or so Georgia Power customers in North Bryan remain without service. Another 1,000 or so Canoochee EMC customers in North Bryan are without power.
Bryan County Emergency Services and the Richmond Hill Police Department continue to stress that evacuees should not return home until the governor waives the mandatory evacuation that began Saturday for all Georgia residents living east of I-95. THey also ask that those who did not evacuate stay off the roads for the same reason, especially in the dark.
Officials say fewer people on the road will give power crews easier access to work on downed lines. Some roads are still blocked due to downed lines and trees, as well as flooding.
Depending on your provider, you can find outage updates on the websites of Coastal Electric, Georgia Power and Canoochee EMC.
Bryan County Schools' cancelation has been extended by a day, with no classes until Thursday at the earliest. The city of Richmond Hill also said city hall will not reopen until Wednesday at 8 a.m.
The Bryan County Board of Commissioners' regular monthly meeting, which was scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in Pembroke, has been postponed. Chairman Carter Infinger said a new date has not yet been picked.
One item the commissioners were planning to discuss Tuesday was burying power lines along Highway 144 when the state trunkline is widened. Commissioners at first turned down the idea at their August meeting, then decided to table the measure to September.
The city of Richmond Hill voted last month to spend $420,000 to bury power lines along Highway 144 from Timber Trail to Port Royal Road when the GDOT project begins. Council members cited safety, aesthetics and reliability, as underground lines would not be subject to falling trees knocking out power during storms such as Hurricane Irma or Hurricane Matthew last year.
Coastal Electric has said it would split the cost with each municipality, using money it is slated to receive from GDOT for moving power poles.