Storms ‘across the whole state’ leave significant damage in some areas of Georgia
Georgia residents across much of the state were pummeled with heavy rain and thunder Tuesday night into Wednesday morning as severe storms rolled through the region, leaving behind significant damage in some areas.
Early reports indicated Rockdale County was the hardest-hit place following the storms, according to the National Weather Service in Atlanta. The NWS said a survey team would look at damage to confirm whether a tornado touched down in that area.
Other areas of the state experienced storm damage too, and the NWS said it was sending out multiple survey teams.
“From what we’ve seen, we have seen some downed trees and power lines,” said Meredith Wyatt, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
Rockdale County, located east of Atlanta, issued a local emergency statement following the storms, according to the NWS. Emergency meals were going to be provided by the Red Cross at local Fire Station 6 at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday.
“Red Cross has dispatched Disaster Assessment crews to the area,” the National Weather Service said. “Please be aware of First Responder and Power crews working diligently in your area.”
While the focus Wednesday morning was on Rockdale County, Wyatt said the NWS was coordinating with emergency management officials in central Georgia too.
The severe weather was “really active, not just in that area but across the whole state,” Wyatt said.
The National Weather Service put tornado watches and warnings, as well as severe thunderstorm advisories and even flash flood warnings, in effect across various regions of Georgia overnight. The southeastern-most region of the state, including Waycross and surrounding areas, was still under a tornado watch Wednesday morning.
How much rain fell in Georgia storms?
Wyatt said west-central Georgia, including Heard, Carroll and Coweta counties, among others, saw an estimated 1 to 3 inches of rain. Middle Georgia saw 1 to 2 inches of rain.
The storms also caused some power outages: More than 7,000 customers were without power in Rockdale County Wednesday morning, according to poweroutage.us, a service that tracks outages across the United States. Another 1,000-plus were without power in Morgan County. Locally, a few dozen people were without power in Muscogee County Wednesday morning.
The NWS plans to provide updates on storm impact as more information becomes available using the agency’s social media pages.
