Griffin Power line construction personnel are continuing to restore power to the Vaughn area of northwest Spalding County. The area was devastated early Thursday morning by a tornado. Transmission service to Griffin’s No. 6 and No. 10 substations was lost. This, combined with dozens of broken poles and downed spans of wire, caused power outages.

The hardest hit areas of Griffin Power’s service area were West McIntosh and Bendview roads, New Salem Road, Vaughn School Road, Jim Goodson Road, Cheatham Road, Georgia Highway 92 and Sidney Drive.

“Our crews are working now to replace around 25 broken poles,” Griffin Power’s Tom Ridgway said. “Once these poles are set and framed out, we can replace the wire, transformers and other apparatus to restore power. We hope to have all of this work complete by (Friday) evening. The only customers who would not have service by this time would be those whose service is unsafe or requires the work of an electrician.”

One major problem hampering the effort is the constant flow of spectators driving through affected areas. Ridgway said the public should avoid affected areas unless there is an actual need.

Griffin’s crews are being helped by the cities of Elberton, LaGrange and Monroe with both equipment and manpower.