TIFTON — Hurricane Michael swept through Tift County on Wednesday night and into Thursday morning, leaving damage in its wake.

The Tift County Emergency Management Agency kept updates coming via social media throughout the hours of the storm.

Tropical storm force winds buffeted the area beginning at approximately 8 p.m. on Wednesday and continued until approximately 8 a.m. Thursday.

The safe haven shelters, located at the Omega Church of God, Omega First Baptist, First United Methodist Church and the Tift County Recreation Department in Tifton sheltered more than 200 people throughout the night.

Power outages were reported beginning at around 5 p.m.

Georgia Power is reporting 111,875 customers across the state being affected by outages as of 5:30 p.m. Thursday. An estimated 4,464 customers in Tift County are affected by outages as of 5:30 p.m.

Irwin EMC is reporting 624 members in Tift County being affected as of 3 p.m., and Colquitt EMC is reporting approximately 18,000 outages across their entire seven-county area as of 4 p.m.

A press release from Colquitt EMC reads:

“Throughout the day, crews have encountered hundreds of downed trees in roadways and on power lines which must be removed before work begins. Service personnel are working to repair extensive damage to power lines, power poles and equipment caused by the high winds of Hurricane Michael.

“Colquitt EMC reminds members that with large-scale outages effecting thousands of members, in addition to the major line damage, there are also many instances of isolated damage to individual service equipment.

“Crews from Okefenoke REMC arrived today to assist our line crews in restoration efforts. Due to the extent of the damage, we encourage members to prepare for power outages that could last into the next few days.”

The City of Tifton alerted Tifton water customers that a boil notice is in effect beginning early Thursday. A statement from the city reads:

 “Due to massive power outages caused by Hurricane Michael, this is causing water pressure in parts of the water system to drop to dangerously low levels. When this occurs a potential health hazard may exist in these areas of zero pressure from backflow and/or back-siphonage of water of unknown quality into the water distribution system.

“In order to protect the public from a potential health hazard, all citizens that have experienced water outages and/or low water pressures are advised to “boil” all water prior to use for drinking, cooking, or preparing baby food. The water should be boiled for at least one minute after reaching a rolling boil. Citizens should continue to boil their water until they are notified by their drinking water utility that the water system has been restored to full operation, and that the microbiological quality of the water in the distribution system is safe for human consumption.”

Water customers have also been advised that they will experience red or dirty water and should continue to boil water for the next 24 hours.

For information about restaurants being open because of the boil advisory, contact the Tift County Health Department at (229) 386-8373, per the City of Tifton.

The inert landfill, located at 601 Armour St., will be open Friday and that disposal of yard waste will be free of charge for local residents with proof of local address. This will not apply to commercial businesses.

The Tifton Police Department and Tift County Sheriff’s Office sent out a reminder that intersections with traffic lights that are completely out should be treated as four-way stops.

The Georgia Emergency Management Agency posted a crisis cleanup hotline for private property. The services are free but are on a first-come, first-served basis.

The phone number is 1-800-451-1954.

Tift County schools, Tiftarea Academy and Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College are all closed for the remainder of the week.

The US Department of Agriculture states that without power, food in an unopened fridge will keep for about four hours and in an unopened freezer between 24 and 48 hours; any food exposed to temperatures greater than 40 degrees for more than two hours should be discarded.