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Severe weather passed through Butler County overnight, leaving extensive damage in its wake. Christi Scruggs, communications director for Pioneer Electric, reported that the storm caused numerous broken poles and trees on power lines.

“All the guys are out and working to fix things as quickly and safely as possible,” Scruggs said.

Rosie Till, Emergency Management Agency (EMA) Director for Butler County, said that Georgiana was particularly hard-hit by the storm, with extensive damage and a possibility of outages lasting up to 48 hours. Till stated that the damages were caused by straight-line winds that struck around 2 a.m., without rotation.

“As of right now, there are 1,600 Pioneer Electric customers and 1,900 Alabama customers without power,” Till said. “We have already gotten together and had a briefing. Everyone is doing their best to clear the roadways because several are currently impassable.”

At 1:30 p.m. Friday, 9,000 Alabama Power customers in central Alabama remained without service. Of those, 280 customers were in Butler County.

“Statewide, there are 22,000 Alabama Power customers without power,” said APC representative Michael Jordan. “Steady progress continues to be made with power restored to more than 15,000 customers in central Alabama.”

Scruggs warned the public not to approach downed power lines, emphasizing that even professionals can’t always determine if a line is live. She encouraged any Pioneer Electric members who have not yet reported power outages to do so by calling 1-800-533-0323. 

“We appreciate everyone’s patience as we attempt to get everything back up and running as soon as possible and as safely as possible,” Scruggs added.

Till also mentioned that the Red Cross is en route to assist, along with members of the Alabama Baptist Disaster Relief Team, Alabama Forestry and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA). Updates will be provided as they become available.