Georgia Power working to restore power following Tropical Storm Hermine

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Georgia Power has mobilized 3,200 personnel - including Georgia Power employees, contractors and crews from across the Southern Company system - to respond to service interruptions.

Wind gusts of up to 50 miles per hour has impeded restoration progress on Friday, but crews made substantial progress throughout the day and will continue Saturday.

Since Thursday evening, Georgia Power has restored power to more than 170,000 customers. As of Friday evening, there were approximately 49,000 customers without power in Georgia and more than 1,600 individual cases of damage (including broken poles and lines) the company is working to repair.

Ahead of the storm, Governor Nathan Deal declared a state of emergency for 56 Georgia counties. The state of emergency continues through midnight Saturday.

A spokeswoman says Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal is receiving regular updates while overseas as Hermine moves across Georgia.

Deal left Atlanta on Thursday for a four-day trade mission in Ireland. Deal's schedule includes the Georgia Tech-Boston College football opener in Dublin on Saturday and visits to Irish companies with ties to Georgia.

The storm pushed into southern Georgia early Friday after making landfall as a hurricane in Florida. Forecasters say Hermine has dumped more than five inches of rain in several spots across south Georgia.

Click here for more information about the forecast and development of Hermine.

In his executive order, Governor Deal said, "Georgia is expected to receive severe weather related to Hermine through Saturday. We are working to ensure counties in south, central and coastal Georgia have access to the state resources necessary to prepare and respond when Hermine enters Georgia. Our Emergency Operations Command will continue closely monitoring this storm and additional counties may be included in this declaration as needed."