COVINGTON, Ga. — President Joe Biden declared Newton and six other counties major disaster areas today, Jan. 17, after last week's storms and high winds caused widespread damage.

The declaration makes federal funding available to those affected by the storms and includes grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover property losses that were uninsured, and other programs to help recovery, numerous Atlanta-are media outlets reported.

Meanwhile, officials were still assessing the impact today from the storm that left extensive property damage countywide and power outages for up to four days in parts of southern Newton County.

Electric crews from 12 electric membership cooperatives worked from Thursday night to Monday afternoon to repair damage and restore power to thousands in Newton County — finally restoring electric service to the hard-hit Stewart community in the southern tip of Newton County Monday.

A National Weather Service (NWS) survey team reported at least two separate tornadoes touched down in Butts County Thursday, including an EF-1 tornado that extended eastward from Butts across the northern portion of Jackson Lake in Newton before entering Jasper County. 

"More work needs to be done to determine if this is a continuous tornado path, or if it was several different tornadoes," the National Weather Service reported.

The accompanying winds were clocked up to 57 mph. They downed trees, damaged homes and businesses and caused power outages for thousands in Newton County beginning Thursday night and lasting in some areas until Monday.

However, crews from Snapping Shoals Electric Membership Corp. (EMC) and others — including some from South Carolina and Florida — were able to restore power to all Newton County customers by Tuesday morning. That included a hard-hit area in the southern tip of Newton County in the Stewart community where the high winds downed trees, snapped power poles and toppled power lines. 

Snapping Shoals reported up to 5,000 homes and businesses in Newton County were without power Friday morning. 

Though damage and outages were reported countywide, some of the hardest hit areas were in the south end of Newton — especially in an area roughly from Potts Store at Georgia Hwy. 36 and Hwy. 212 on the north, to Campbell Road and Jackson Lake on the south.

High winds caved in the roof and sides of a self-serve car wash near Potts Store, among other businesses. They also downed numerous trees which fell into homes and downed numerous power lines and poles

Covington Electric Department director Joel Smith said about 400 customers were without power Thursday night but were soon brought back online.

By Monday, workers were still repairing and replacing 220 broken power poles throughout Snapping Shoals' seven-county service area — though mostly in and around Jackson Lake in southern Newton, said Snapping Shoals spokesperson Leigh-Anne Burgess.

County school officials canceled classes Friday.

Snapping Shoals asked for help from 11 other EMCs to restore power — including where a substation was reported out of service and affecting 4,000 customers.

"There was significant damage to the transmission line, and crews are actively working to repair it," Burgess said Friday.

She said crews also were "facing trees on lines and numerous broken poles, which can take hours to repair." 

Friday's outage total was down from 14,000 throughout the EMC's service area in the midst of the storm at 6 p.m., Thursday — which followed the NWS issuing a tornado warning for Newton County. 

Newton County government spokesperson Bryan Fazio reported debris and whole trees covering parts of Ga. Hwy. 36 in south Newton. Side roads off Hwy. 212 and near Hwy. 36 were closed as crews cleared downed power lines and the trees many were tangled in.

Damage also was reported along Hwy. 11 near Henderson Mill Road and Hwy. 36 near Hwy. 162. 

Crews from Newton County Public Works, Newton County Fire Services and Newton County Sheriff's Office, and Georgia Emergency Management Agency, state Department of Natural Resources and Georgia Forestry worked to clear roads as soon as the power lines were cleared.

Newton County school officials canceled classes and closed the central office Friday as a result of storm damage and power outages across the county. 

"Information regarding a make-up day for school and work will be provided at a later date," the school system reported.

The federal disaster declaration was issued for four counties in the 10th Congressional District represented by U.S. Rep. Mike Collins, R-Jackson.

Collins said in a statement, “Our hearts are with those who experienced loss because of last week’s catastrophic storms. 

"For the many Georgians working to rebuild their homes and businesses, help is on the way. With this federal disaster declaration, individuals who experienced property damage may apply for grants through FEMA to help cover the cost of temporary housing, home repairs, and more.”