Hurricane Nate rips through Pike County

Published 10:58 am Sunday, October 8, 2017

Tropical Storm force winds hit Pike County early Sunday morning, causing a large power outage in Brundidge and knocking down several trees around the county.

Brundidge City Manager Britt Thomas said up to 175 people in the city are without power due to a tree that has fallen on a line near the Caldwell subdivision.

In addition to nearby residences, the outage has also affected the traffic light a the intersection of U.S. Highway 231 and S.A. Graham Boulevard. Thomas said crews are working to remove the tree and believes that will restore all power outages in the area.

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“It’s just a slow-go right now because it’s in a swampy area,” Thomas said.

The fallen tree is in practically the same area as one that fell during Hurricane Irma and knocked out power for 100 Brundidge residents overnight as utility crews were unable to remove the tree due to conditions until the next morning.

The City of Troy has already cleared some power outages and has one remaining in the area of George Wallace Drive and Norfolk Avenue.

“We had a large tree fall on a power line there and crews are still working on clearing that up,” said Utilities Manager Brian Chandler. “Somewhere around 20-30 people are affected by that. We hope to have that cleared within the next hour.”

The strong winds have also knocked down several trees around the county, including on County Road 1107 near the intersection of County Road 1101, on County Road 3316 near White Water Bridge and on Kervin Drive near Pike Liberal Arts School. Winds also brought down a utility line across County Road 5508, blew a transformer on County Road 1101 and damaged a traffic light at the intersection of Murphree Street and Highway 231.