Unlike a couple of weeks ago when a winter storm glazed over the Pensacola area, Winter Storm Pax is concentrating on northern Alabama and Georgia. The storm is also being felt here.
More than 80 line personnel and support staff from Gulf Power Company departed on Monday, to help out fellow Southern Company utility Georgia Power. Pax is expected to dump as much as eight inches of snow and ice on the Atlanta area. Many of the Gulf Power crew members there now, got some practice here two weeks ago.
Gulf Power’s contingent is part of an armada of more than 200 trucks from Southern Company utilities throughout the Southeast, in support of power restoration activity in the wake of Pax.
Back home, there’s a lot less traffic in and out of Pensacola International Airport. Director Greg Donovan says their largest carrier – Delta Airlines -- is keeping their aircraft on the ground thanks to the weather in both Atlanta and Charlotte.
Since its only rain for the Pensacola area with temperatures above freezing and conditions improving throughout tonight, its business as usual for airlines serving other cities that don’t use the Atlanta and Charlotte hubs. Travelers are advised to check the status of their flights in real time at flypensacola.com, and verify delays and cancelations with their carriers.
More than 110 thousand Georgia Power customers were without electricity as of Wednesday afternoon, according to Reuters. Most of the outages were reported in metropolitan Atlanta. A Georgia Power spokeswoman says some customers may have to wait up to a week for power to be restored.