Storm damage reports emerging across Georgia
Residents and officials across Georgia are starting to report storm-related damage.
In the city of South Fulton, a tree fell on Camp Valley Drive and Benidorm Court.
In Cherokee County, several roads are closed due to debris, including the entrance to the Holly Mill subdivision on Holly Street and Drury Lane, Kellogg Creek at New Hope, and Morgan Road at Bradshaw Lane.
In the Dallas Landing area in Acworth, officials reported power outages due to a fallen tree limb.
Power outages continue to climb
By midnight, power outages across Georgia were impacting more than 60,000 customers.
Georgia Power reported about 25,000 customers without power, mostly in parts of northwest Georgia and metro Atlanta.
Georgia EMC, which represents the cooperatives that primarily serve rural parts of the state, reported just over 38,000 customers without power. Areas most impacted included North and West Georgia and metro Atlanta.
Tornado warning issued for Paulding, Cherokee and Cobb counties
Southeastern Paulding, southwestern Cherokee and northern Cobb counties are under a tornado warning until 12:15 a.m., the National Weather Service announced.
At 11:46 p.m., a severe thunderstorm moving northeast at 45 mph and capable of producing a tornado was located over Dallas in Paulding.
Winds speeds increase to 60 mph in parts of western Georgia
Winds speeds in excess of 60 mph were being reported in Carroll and Paulding counties, west of Atlanta.
A Fox Weather alert reported a possible tornado, indicated by radar, near Yorkville in Paulding County.
Rains starts moving into Atlanta
Rain is beginning to reach the city of Atlanta, which managed to stay dry for most of Saturday.
West Cobb County and Douglas County were seeing rain and wind increase since 11 p.m.
Light rain was being reported on the west side of Atlanta.
The increased activity could prompt a tornado warning from the National Weather Service.
Severe thunderstorm warning issued for parts of northwest Georgia
Several counties west of Atlanta are under a severe thunderstorm warning until midnight, the Weather Service announced at 10:55 p.m.
Areas under the warning include Paulding, Haralson, Carroll, northwest Cobb, Douglas, southeastern Floyd, northern Heard, northwestern Coweta, southwestern Fulton, southeastern Gordon and Bartow counties.
At 10:54 p.m., severe thunderstorms moving northeast at 70 mph were located along a line extending from Esom Hill in Polk County to Corinth in Coweta.
Heavy rain falls on Interstate 20 near Georgia-Alabama line
Drivers on Interstate 20 west will run into a wall of rain near the Georgia-Alabama line, radar indicates.
Heavy rain and wind were reported in Cleburne County and Calhoun County, Ala., as severe weather moves east toward Atlanta.
Carrollton, about 50 miles west of Atlanta, was beginning to see significant rainfall, radar shows.
Flashes of lightning were rampant as of 11 p.m.
Wind speeds in metro Atlanta have been gusting in excess of 30 mph for the last four hours.
Few power outages, but they’re increasing across Georgia
Power outages across Georgia remained few around 10:30 p.m., but they were slowly rising.
Georgia Power reported nearly 4,000 customers without power, mostly in Fulton, Cobb and Bartow counties.
Georgia EMC, which represents the cooperatives that primarily serve rural parts of the state, reported just over 7,000 customers without power. Areas most impacted included North Georgia and metro Atlanta.
Georgia storms part of extreme U.S. weather encompassing a zone of 100 million people
Tornadoes have killed at least 26 people across several states this weekend as a massive storm system also unleashed winds that triggered deadly dust storms and fanned more than 100 wildfires.
Extreme weather conditions were forecast to affect an area home to more than 100 million people. Winds gusting up to 80 mph were predicted from the Canadian border to Texas, threatening blizzard conditions in colder northern areas and wildfire risk in warmer, drier places to the south.
The National Weather Service issued blizzard warnings for parts of far western Minnesota and far eastern South Dakota starting early Saturday.
Evacuations were ordered in some Oklahoma communities as more than 130 fires were reported across the state. Nearly 300 homes were damaged or destroyed. The State Patrol said winds were so strong that they toppled several tractor-trailers.
Rain, thunder, powerful winds move into Paulding County
Shortly after 9 p.m., storms were moving through Paulding County, northwest of Atlanta.
It started with light rain and the winds began to increase. There were also a few rumbles of thunder.
“Just because we are in a tornado watch, don’t take it for granted that you would receive a tornado warning,” Paulding EMA Director Stephen Dooley said in a Facebook video.
The conditions mean a tornado is possible even if the “warning” has yet to be issued, he explained.
Dooley advised having electronic devices charged and suggested residents follow trusted media sources and local social media.
“If you start hearing a lot of a noise like thunder activity, you want to go ahead, even without having to get that warning, to your safe spaces at your house where you’re at, that lowest level and then as interior as possible where you don’t have any windows surrounding you.”
