Georgia Magazine - February 2013 - (Page 5)

‘My world stood still’ www.georgiamagazine.org (800) 544-4362, in Georgia; (770) 270-6500 GEORGIA Magazine, the largest-circulation monthly magazine in the state, is published by Georgia Electric Membership Corp. (GEMC), the trade association for Georgia’s 42 consumer-owned electric utilities. On average, more than 500,000 members welcome the magazine into their homes each month. Georgia’s not-for-profit electric cooperatives provide reliable, safe and affordable electric service to more than 73 percent of the state’s land area serving 4.5 million residents. For more information, visit www.georgiaemc.com. EDITOR Ann Orowski, CCC ManagIng EDITOR Jennifer Hewett, CCC assOcIaTE EDITOR Victoria Scharf DeCastro PRODucTIOn cOORDInaTOR Gayle Hartman assIsTanT EDITOR Kevin Braun assIsTanT EDITOR Jim Jess EDITORIal InTERn Vanessa Schill cOnTRIbuTIng WRITERs Deborah Geering, Jackie Kennedy, Ann McCleary, Renea Winchester, Kathy Witt cOnTRIbuTIng PhOTOgRaPhERs Rodney Christopher, Bill Durden, Jackie Kennedy, Wil Ledford, Patti Mason, L.A. Reno, Kevin C. Rose, Phillip Spears Laurel George, (404) 541-0628; Laine Kirby Wood, (770) 2895700 aDvERTIsIng REPREsEnTaTIvEs naTIOnal aDvERTIsIng REPREsEnTaTIvE National Country Market, (800) 626-1181 DEsIgnERs Trudie Thibodeaux, Kerstin Weis subscRIPTIOns Mary Wellman, (770) 270-6981 2013 aDvIsORy bOaRD Juanita Austin, Jane F. Garvey, Kelly Hester, Julie Musselman, Jim O’Bryan, Lewis Sheffield, Barbara Tapp, Jim Tucker, Donna Yost gEORgIa EMc OffIcERs chaIRMan Alice Mallory, Coweta-Fayette EMC vIcE chaIRMan G. Anthony Norton, Snapping Shoals EMC sEc.-TREasuRER Randy Crenshaw, Irwin PREsIDEnT/cEO, gEMc A. Paul Wood EMC GEORGIA Magazine (USPS-473120, ISSN 10615822) is published monthly by Georgia Electric Membership Corp., P.O. Box 1707, 2100 East Exchange Place, Tucker, GA 30085. Periodicals postage paid at Thomaston, GA, and additional mailing offices. POsTMasTER: Send address changes to GEORGIA Magazine, P.O. Box 1707, Tucker, GA 30085. Printed in Georgia by Quad/ Graphics. Acceptance of advertising by GEORGIA Magazine does not imply endorsement by the publisher or Georgia’s electric membership corporations of the product or services advertised. GEORGIA Magazine’s LIABILITY FOR ERRORS IN, OR OMISSIONS OF, ADVERTISEMENTS, WHETHER IN CONTRACT OR IN TORT, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO DAMAGES TO THE ADVERTISER’S BUSINESS, SHALL IN NO EVENT EXCEED THE AMOUNT OF CHARGES FOR THE ADVERTISEMENT THAT WAS OMITTED OR IN WHICH THE ERROR OCCURRED. February 2013 T hat’s what it feels like when the power goes out. If it happens in the summer, you lose air conditioning and soon find the temperature in your home rising into the 90s. If it happens in the winter, even if you have a gaspowered furnace, the blower won’t come on, and the temperature falls dramatically. Just ask the folks who live along the New Jersey coast how desperate they felt in early November when Hurricane Sandy hit their homes south of New York City. It got really cold—fast. A few days later, a Nor’easter came through and took out power again for many whose power had just been restored. Or you might ask the folks who live in the suburbs outside Washington, D.C., how they felt when a derecho1 came through last June. The damage left many without power until after Independence Day. Homes in the D.C. suburbs got really hot—fast. For many, losing phone service brings life to a total standstill. Cordless phones need electricity to work. Cell phones must connect to a network through cell towers, many of which have no backup source of electricity. The result is no phone service at all. Of course, everyone is aware of what happens when a refrigerator is turned off for eight hours or more, or when a freezer doesn’t work for more than 24 hours. It’s not pretty— and it’s costly. Some have told me they crank up a gasoline-powered generator, and that takes care of everything. That’s fine, unless you run out of gas and discover service stations can’t supply more because they don’t have More online at www.georgiamagazine.org By Paul Wood President/CEO, Georgia Electric Membership Corporation electricity for their pumps. You may be reduced to using a hand pump, as one station operator did in New Jersey during Sandy. He brought out a 1948 manual pump and started pumping gasoline by hand from his storage tanks into small containers for his neighbors. It can happen to any of us. When the power goes out, and you’re lying there in the middle of the night wondering if the electricity will ever come on, be assured there’s an electric membership corporation (EMC) crew somewhere already hard at work on your behalf. EMC crews, on call 24/7, have plenty of experience. Last June, Georgia EMCs sent more than 100 employees up the Eastern Seaboard to help local utilities restore power. That’s our tradition; we go whenever we’re needed, wherever we’re needed. Our folks are ready when there’s an outage in your neighborhood, too. Of course, major storms may require a restoration effort of many hours, even days, but you will have power again as soon as it can be restored safely. We can’t always tell you exactly when your electricity will be restored; for that, we ask your patience. We want your power on as much as you do. After all, no one should have to resort to a hand pump to get their world moving again. 1 Derecho is the Spanish word used by meteorologists to describe a “widespread, straight-line windstorm associated with severe thunderstorms.” 5 http://www.georgiamagazine.org http://www.georgiaemc.com http://www.georgiamagazine.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Georgia Magazine - February 2013

Georgia Magazine - February 2013
The 2013 Readers’ Choice Awards
Table of Contents
Viewpoint
Liberty Notes
Georgia News
Calendar of Events
Picture This?
Currents
My Georgia
A Safe Haven
Around Georgia: Return to Tara
Georgia Cooks
Snapshot

Georgia Magazine - February 2013