Hurricane Opal hit Atlanta and Emory the day after it came ashore from the Gulf of Mexico in northwestern Florida. At one point on Oct. 5, more than 400,000 Georgia Power customers were without electricity.
According to Assistant Vice President for Facilities Management Dave Gojdics, Emory's power outage was so short-lived because the University's electrical system is underground and was not affected by falling trees blown over by the high winds that accompanied the remnants of Hurricane Opal. Although the University was closed until noon on Oct. 5, Gojdics said the main campus lost power only for about an hour when the entire area surrounding Emory lost power around 4 a.m.
Gojdics also said the north side of campus did not fare as well, because those areas are served by general Georgia Power facilities rather than the central, underground campus electrical system. Most offices in the Gatewood Road/Yerkes Primate Center area were without power all day Oct. 5 and 6, and the drive to Lullwater House was blocked by fallen trees.
Many offices on the north end of Clifton Road (Human Resources, Materiel Center, Clifton Child Care Center, the Emory Inn and the Hotel/Conference Center) had no electricity on Oct. 5, but most of those facilities were back on line the next day. Pat Douglass, director of services in Human Resources, said her office was forced to close all day Oct. 5, in part because so much of the Human Resources building has no windows.
Lee Jenkins, director of public relations for Emory Hospital, said the hospital's emergency generator kicked in immediately after the electricity went off on Oct. 5. The hospital generator was needed for only about an hour until power was restored.
Although Emory's facilities sustained no significant damage during the storm, nearly 100 trees were lost to high winds. Gojdics said the heaviest losses occurred in Lullwater and in the Gatewood Road/Yerkes Center area. Downed trees and power lines caused traffic to be restricted on Gatewood Road Oct. 5 and 6. A few trees in front of the Woodruff Memorial Building also succumbed to high winds. The renowned Phinizey Calhoun oak tree in front of Emory Hospital was unharmed, Jenkins said.
The University was closed until noon on Oct. 5, but getting to work was still a daunting task for many employees. Houston Mill and Mason Mill roads were closed Oct. 5 due to downed trees and power lines. The intersection of North Decatur and Briarcliff roads, where a power transformer was knocked out by a tree, was closed for several days. Other nearby streets significantly affected by downed trees and power lines include Clairmont, Briarcliff, North Druid Hills, LaVista and Lullwater roads and Ponce de Leon Avenue.
Gojdics commended his staff for their performance before, during and after the storm. "We called our mechanics, electricians and other essential staff to come in at around 4 or 5 a.m.," Gojdics said. "They really did a wonderful job." He also said that Emory was fortunate in that no major flooding occurred on campus, as it did in other parts of the Atlanta area. "It could have been much worse that it was."
--Dan Treadaway