Photo Essay

Augusta, Georgia, after the Storm Helene: 

University and Other Operations Come to a Halt due to Widespread Power Outage

On the night of Thursday, September 26, and early morning of Friday, September 27, 2024, as strong winds blew, the storm Helene unexpectedly brought very strong winds to the city of Augusta, and the city woke up to a widespread power outage. As concerned parents of an Augusta University student, we waited on the 27th for power to be restored, but there was no update.

By Saturday morning, September 28, we had started getting reports that the power might take time to be restored. There were no home deliveries, and gas stations were running out of gas. University dining halls had only one open, and all students could not reach there. The students needed to leave as everything was uncertain. That’s when we started for Augusta. The site on the way was not pleasant as we approached Augusta with trees down along the roadside and no phone network. The city had trees uprooted, trees over the roofs of houses, signages uprooted, hoardings and billboards fallen or upside down, and electrical wires on the ground. The damage caused by Helene's strong winds was visible.

As we left Augusta towards Atlanta, we saw service crews working, vehicles and crews parked on the roads, and assessing the situation. We could see that it was not something that they could restore in a day or two. However, we were very thankful that the trees had already been removed from the main roads, and we cannot thank the staff enough for their service; they were already on the job without any delay. The visuals here will tell the rest of the story. Some images may be low in clarity as these were taken from a moving car or a video, but still, the pictures will tell the story if you have not seen them for yourself.