GALLERY: North Georgia communities seeing significant damage after storms
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - A number of downed trees and power lines from a stormy Thursday night were reported across Forsyth, Cherokee, and Gordon counties. Many residents are waking up Friday to the aftermath of severe weather.
FIRST ALERT FORECAST: Severe thunderstorm watch issued for north Georgia, storms could have over 60 mph winds
The Forsyth County Sheriff’s office encouraged people not to be out on the roads and to postpone commutes if possible.
The agency also said to avoid any areas with downed power lines.
Atlanta News First went to a neighborhood in Cumming with several toppled trees on Mundy Road.
Neighbors said the storm rolled through around 6:15 p.m. Their power had been out since. Dozens of people who lived on the street were helping each other out, using a chainsaw to cut branches from one massive tree with roots exposed and using a pickup truck to pull away large limbs.
Liliana Garcia told us she got a frantic call from her grandmother who was watching her children.
“She was calling me, saying it was bad, and, in the middle of that conversation, you could hear her scream,” she said. “The columns in front of the house are gone, so we figured one of the columns hit the window she was standing in front of.”
Garcia said their trampoline blew away. She could not believe all the damage she saw on her street when she arrived home from work.
“Seeing that just terrified me, seeing the broken window” said Garcia. “Luckily, we are all okay. We are very blessed that this is all that happened, and it was all material. We are all okay.”
According to Georgia Power, there are more than 166,249 customers without power as of 8:37 p.m. on Thursday.
In Forsyth County, power remains out for thousands of residents. The following areas are affected:
- Atlanta Highway at Valley Circle
- Matt Hwy at Hightower Circle, Old Federal Road, Seabolt Drive, Poole’s Mill Road, and Dr. Bramblett Road.
- Wallace Tatum Road at Wright Bridge Road, Seabolt Drive, and Cherry Drive.
- Keith Bridge at Martin Road and Shadburn Road
See more of our photo gallery on storm damage across north Georgia.
Cherokee County Emergency Management provided an update on their Facebook page on Friday morning.
- “Currently, our power outages are:
- GA Power: 3,874
- Sawnee EMC: 444
- Cobb EMC: 7
- Amicalola EMC: 14,408 (This is Cherokee Co. and surrounding Counties)
“As power lines are cleared, our Cherokee Co. crews are working hard to remove the trees. Please be patient and stay safe,” the Facebook post said.
Cherokee County
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