As of 10 p.m. Monday approximately 800 North Georgia EMC customers were still without power in Catoosa, Walker, Whitfield and Murray counties following severe thunderstorms and high winds this past weekend.

Progress has been hindered by the number of fallen trees in the rights-of-way and the severity of damage in remote locations, according to the utility.

Crews will continue to work until all power is restored. The storm resulted in numerous broken poles and downed power lines. In many areas tree cutting crews are clearing right-of-way so that restoration crews can get access to the damaged lines and poles. Please stay away from downed lines and report them immediately to North Georgia EMC, your local power company or call 911.

If you are a North Georgia EMC customer and your power is out, please call the utility offices to reach its 24-hour dispatch. During widespread outages, phone lines may be unavailable due to extremely high call volume. NGEMC office phone numbers are as follows: Dalton (706) 259-9441 Calhoun (706) 629-3160 Fort Oglethorpe (706) 866-2231 Trion (706) 734-7341.