Severe wind, storm kills man, snaps trees, crushes homes across Georgia

The severe storm that whipped through metro Atlanta overnight left behind a trail of damage caused by strong winds and heavy rain.

FOX 5 Atlanta has been reporting around Georgia, finding the areas hit the hardest.

Were you impacted by Sunday morning's storm? Email additional information, pictures, or video to newstipsatlanta@fox.com.

Butts County

Butts County Manager Brad Johnson said he received a call at around 5:30 a.m. from the National Weather Service about a tornado warning in the area.

Johnson said there were probably about 50 follow-up calls from residents reporting down trees, power outages and being trapped in their cars. He said he was grateful there were no injuries.

"It's mostly wind damage," Johnson said. "Obviously, it looks like a tornado passed through. We've already been in contact with National Weather Service and GEMA. They'll be here tomorrow [Monday] morning to do the assessment and tell us what it was. But, just from experience, that one area out there is pretty significant for a track of damage."

Clayton County

Power restored at Clayton County Jail in Jonesboro

Inmates at the Clayton County Jail were left in the dark for hours on Sunday.

Sheriff Levon Allen reported the power went out at 4 a.m., leaving critical areas like the kitchen and infirmary without electricity. That meant they were without a means of preparing meals, the halls were illuminated only by exit signs, computers, internet and phone lines were down, and those who required breathing machines and other critical medical equipment went without.

Allen said while the jail had emergency generators, it wasn't clear that they were working. He also passed the buck to the Clayton County Board of Commissioners, saying it was responsible for the maintenance of the jail as its owner.

Power was restored Sunday afternoon.

Rex

FOX 5 Atlanta photojournalist Billy Heath also visited a neighborhood in Rex where the wind ripped fences right out of the ground in multiple backyards.

Residents in the Creekwood Estates area said they could hear the storm rumbling through Sunday morning.

He also interviewed a homeowner who said a tree fell on her home.

Cobb County

Smyrna

FOX 5 Atlanta cameras captured downed trees and wires at 2641 Linnwood Drive in Smyrna.

Coweta County

Senoia

FOX 5 Atlanta viewer Jennifer Jones took time to survey her area after the sun came up in Senoia on Sunday.

Trees were completely uprooted and snapped like pencils.

"We lost roughly 50 trees in Senoia, along with some shingles off the roof," she estimated. "It sure was a rough night."

DeKalb County

Decatur

In Decatur, a tree fell on train tracks at Scott Boulevard and Coventry Road.

Dunwoody

Traffic was shut down in both directions in Dunwoody at the intersection of Mt. Vernon Road and Mt. Vernon Place after a large tree branch fell, bringing down power lines.

Residents on the north side of Dunwoody experienced power outages due to the incident.

There were also downed trees on Adams Road, Sheridan Lane, Dunwoody Club Drive, Davantry Drive at Brendon Drive, Dunwoody Station at Mile Post Drive and Withmere Way.

Officials are keeping a tally of road closures here.

Forsyth County

Cumming

The Forsyth County Fire Department battled a fire that burned down the home of the Legionaries of Christ in Cumming early Sunday morning.

Officials said the cause of the fire is still under investigation, but there was reason to believe it was caused by lightning.

A dozen priests who lived there have been displaced, according to a statement released by the Legionaries of Christ.

Fire Chief Jason Shivers said there were a number of other fires around the county on Sunday morning, including one other that turned out to be a total loss. The department is currently investigating all the fires and will not release further information until each incident has been thoroughly reviewed.

Fulton County

Atlanta

Gusty winds brought down large pieces of debris on Peachtree and Baker streets around Truist Plaza downtown Atlanta.

It's not clear which building the pieces fell from. No injuries have been reported.

Man killed by fallen tree in Grove Park neighborhood

One person was killed by a snapped tree in Northwest Atlanta.

FOX 5 Atlanta reporter Alexa Liacko spoke to Atlanta Fire and Rescue. They said the tree fell onto a home.

Multiple people were inside, but were able to escape. A man who was in the bedroom directly impacted did not survive.

MORE ON THIS STORY: Man killed by tree in Atlanta's Grove Park neighborhood

Johns Creek

A fallen tree took down power lines on Old Alabama Road from Coleherne Court to Buice Road in Johns Creek, causing the roadway to shut down.

By 10 a.m., the Johns Creek Police Department updated residents that Georgia Power would be replacing three poles. That job is expected to take all day.

South Fulton

Broken trees littered Adams Road SW and Enon Road in South Fulton Sunday afternoon.

FOX 5 Atlanta viewer Quasar Alexander sent FOX 5 photos of the damage.

In one area, the driver of a pickup truck could be seen going off-road to avoid hitting a fallen tree.

Henry County

Stockbridge

Stockbridge residents were hit hard by the storm. FOX 5 Atlanta noticed plenty of downed trees, power lines and widespread power outages.

FOX 5 Photojournalist Billy Heath took a video of Macon Highway and Sunset Hills Boulevard where the road was completely shut down before sunrise.

Troup County

Hogansville

Multiple trees fell in the City of Hogansville, including one on a patrol car. Fortunately, no injuries were reported.

Meanwhile, many residents called the Troup County Emergency Operations Center to report trees on homes, other vehicles and more blocking roadways. They said there were so many, in fact, that they could not keep up to give a list of roads to avoid.

Constituents were discouraged from traveling until daylight due to downed power lines that could still have been live.

LaGrange

Over in LaGrange, the winds took down a road sign from the northbound lanes of I-85 just before Exit 18.

FOX 5 Atlanta photographer Matthew Stringer captured a photo of the sign for the F.D. Roosevelt State Park lying by the roadside.

Strong winds also knocked down large pine tree onto a home on Morningside Drive. The family that lives there said the tree narrowly missed a sleeping two-year-old, thanks to a pickup truck in the driveway that broke its fall.

"I run in the living room. The ceiling's on the floor, insulation everywhere, tree limbs hanging down," said Richard Morgan. "And I run to the hallway, and it was everything I had to get into my son's bedroom door."

Morgan said he had to pry the door open just enough to squeeze himself in. He couldn't believe what he saw.

"Not a scratch. He wasn't even dirty," he told FOX 5 Atlanta. "It's like someone put their hands over that crib and covered it. Like, there was hardly any insulation down in the crib with him when the floors were covered in a foot of insulation."

Morgan said he can't help but believe he witnessed a miracle.

"When I seen that he was perfectly fine, I didn't care about possessions, belongings, the house. I mean, even your $50,000 truck," he said. "My son's alive. My wife's okay. I'm okay."

Troup County EMA Director Zac Steele said he's received reports of at least 100 trees down across the county.

"It’s been crazy the last two or three years here. These pop-up storms, squall lines, especially stuff during the middle of the night, we’ve seen all the way back to March of ‘23. These deadly tornadoes that can start in the middle of the night, and these straight line wind events," said Steele. "We’re not exactly sure what we dealt with last night. We’ve been in contact with the National Weather Service, hopefully they’ll have a team on the ground in the next day or two."

Most of the trees have been cleared from the roads.

FOX 5 Atlanta reporter Eric Mock contributed to this report.

Latest from Georgia Power

What they're saying:

Georgia Power crews have been working diligently to restore service to all areas impacted by the storm.

They issued the following statement Sunday evening: 

"As Sunday’s severe storm system exits the state, Georgia Power continues to work, repairing damage caused by high winds, downed trees and heavy lightning from the mountains to the coast. Since the beginning of the storm, power has been restored to nearly 170,000 customers as of 2 p.m. Sunday. The rapid results are possible through the hard work of repair crews as well as "smart grid" technology that enabled remote restoration and switching in many locations, even while the storm was underway.

"The company monitored the storm’s progress throughout the weekend, with crews and systems ready to safely respond to issues to quickly restore power where damage occurred. As the storm moved across the state, damage assessment efforts followed, marking the first phase of the restoration process. Tree crews and repair teams quickly follow depending on the amount of damage and access to the area.

"At this point in the restoration, damage assessment teams have reported approximately 110 broken or damaged poles, 300 spans of downed wire and dozens of damaged transformers. Some 1,300 individual cases of damage remain, which could include blown fuses, or other protective devices, or additional damage from continuing windy conditions. Crews continue to work to remove fallen limbs and trees and make repairs.

"Georgia Power continues to remind customers that dangerous conditions exist following a storm, and to always avoid downed power lines and heed the advice of local, state, and federal emergency authorities in storm-affected areas."

As of 8 p.m., there were just over 650 active outages across the state.

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