Irma and Gwinnett, Day 3: Power outages, road issues slowly dwindling

The widespread power outages and road closures wrought in Gwinnett County by Tropical Storm Irma continued dwindling throughout the day Wednesday.

By 3:30 p.m., about 11,500 Gwinnett County customers of Georgia Power or the Walton, Jackson and Sawnee EMCs were without power. That was a small portion of the Gwinnettians who were powerless Tuesday afternoon, and a far cry from the 100,000-plus residents that didn't have electricity in Irma's more immediate aftermath.

Road closures caused by hundreds of downed trees and power lines were also continuing to diminish Wednesday morning. On Wednesday afternoon, the Gwinnett County Police Department tweeted out a list of closures that included about 21 sites.

About 25 closures were included on the list released earlier Wednesday, and the number had been about twice as high Tuesday evening.

Gwinnett County Public Schools canceled classes for a third straight day Wednesday, citing “power outages we are still experiencing in some areas of the county and transportation concerns on secondary roads.” It planned to reopen Thursday.

Trials and hearings (and jury duty) were also canceled Wednesday, though most county offices were open.

Trash pickup, which had been canceled Monday and Tuesday, also resumed Wednesday.

The Gwinnett County Fair was expected to open as scheduled on Thursday.