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Storms leave heavy damage in Cherokee County
Many residents in Cherokee County are waking up without power after Thursday night's storms and heavy winds caused major damage to the area.
ATLANTA - Georgia continues to recover from a line of powerful storms that left behind fallen trees, power outages, and damage to buildings in its wake.
Damaging winds, frequent lightning, and periods of heavy rain were associated with the storms.
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Trees crush cars, homes
Fallen trees crushed cars and homes during Thursday night's storm in metro Atlanta
At the height of the storms, more than 350,000 customers were without power across the state, according to Georgia Power and the Georgia EMCs. As of 6 a.m. Friday, more than 88,000 Georgians are waking up without power.
Most areas in north Georgia have reported down trees or power lines. While those reports are widespread, the damage is scattered.
Crews spent Thursday evening clearing roadways and restoring power.
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Wind knocks down wall at firehouse gym
The line of storms brought damaging winds, lightning, and heavy periods of rain right during the busy evening commute. One of the most shocking images after the storm was from Calhoun in Gordon County. That's where an entire wall of a gym came crashing down.
Calhoun firehouse gym wall downed by high winds
In Calhoun, a severe storm moved through around 5:44 p.m. bringing 60 mph wind gusts and penny size hail.
That storm caused the back wall to collapse at the firehouse gym located at 401 Curtis Parkway. The Calhoun Police Department released several photos showing the extent of the damage. Bricks littered the lawn outside the gym.
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Damage reported in Georgia from storms
Several severe storms tore through Georgia on Thursday, leaving a trail of destruction.
Police say it was caused by strong winds.
There were no reports of injuries.
READ MORE ABOUT THE GYM WALL COLLAPSE
Wind knocks over trucks, damages buildings in Cherokee County
In Ball Ground, the police department posted a photo to its Facebook page showing a tractor-trailer toppled due to the high winds.
The Cherokee County Sheriff's Office says there were multiple trees and power lines down.
The sheriff's office posted on its Facebook page a photo of the canopy bent and on its side at the BP gas station at the Clayton Food Store located on the corner of Land Road and Upper Burris Road just north of Canton.
No injuries were reported.
In all, about 50 roads were blocked for a time due to trees being down.
Friday morning, driving conditions in the northern part of the county remained extremely hazardous, with fallen trees shutting down whole roads or blocking lanes.
Wind knocks over the canopy of the BP gas pumps at the Clayton Food Store just north of Canton on July 20, 2023. (Cherokee County Sheriff's Office)
Hundreds of trees down in Forsyth County
Emergency workers in Forsyth County were busy Thursday night clearing roadways and getting things back in order.
Forsyth County Sheriff Ron Freeman said more than 500 trees were reportedly down in the county due to the storm.
"Obviously, we suffered a really big hit for some bad weather," the sheriff said.
Chainsaw crews spent the evening reopening about 50 to 60 roadways blocked by those trees.
Emergency crews also reported about 26 structures with trees on them.
"Do me a favor, stay home if you can. Let the professionals and road crews and the others get this done," the sheriff said.
The sheriff said to stay off even the clear roadways until morning.
Video shows storm roll into DeKalb-Peachtree Airport
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Storm blows into DeKalb-Peachtree Airport - timelapse
This is a time-lapse video of the storm blowing into DeKalb-Peachtree Airport on July 20, 2023.
A time-lapse video of DeKalb-Peachtree Airport shows the power of the storm as it rolls through the Chamblee area.
Winds whipped up dirt and debris ahead of the storm. Once the outflow passed, rain followed.
No damage was reported at the airport.
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