THOMASVILLE — The City of Thomasville knows when a customer loses power — even before the customer reports the problem.

When one’s power goes off, the location appears in red on a huge computerized map monitored by city personnel.

However, said Steve Sykes, Thomasville city manager/utilities superintendent, customers are encouraged to report outages and leave messages.

“We listen to all of them,” Sykes said. “We know about that outages before the calls begin. We know from the automated meters.”

An automated call system identifies the caller via caller ID. Sykes said callers relay what they are experiencing, such as a tree on a line and sparking. City workers monitoring the calls want specific information.

An intense process gets underway as officials decide where to send resources.

The city had 200 employees on storm duty. The 38-member electric crew included engineers and dispatchers.

Personnel in the field communicate with dispatchers when power is about to be restored. The process is monitored on the control center map to ensure power is back.

Automatically, customers are called to be sure power actually has been restored.

Prior to Irma striking Monday, the city contacted Electric Cities of Georgia, of which Thomasville is a member, and requested six electric crews with bucket trucks. Thomasville was one of 17 Georgia cities requesting help before the storm.

With Irma taking an unexpected, destructive path beyond South Georgia into Middle and North Georgia, massive requests of the organization resulted.

Sykes said it was assumed here that many Georgia cities would be dealing with the same power-outage problems, and help would not be available.

Late Tuesday morning, it was learned two Acworth crews were en route to Thomasville.

At the peak, the city reported having more than 7,300 customers without power Monday. By noon Tuesday, the number of outages was down to approximately 70, with 769 and customers without power.

The city does not budget for storms. Funding of the Irma aftermath will come from reserves.

Senior reporter Patti Dozier can be reached at (229) 226-2400, ext. 1820