Severe GA Storms: Thousands Without Power, Downed Trees

ATLANTA, GA — Metro Atlanta may be safe from the heat Tuesday, but forecasters told Patch the metro area may not be safe from more rain in the evening hours after Monday's downpour caused widespread damage and thousands of people to be without electricity.

A strong upper level disturbance in the Arkansas/Louisiana/Mississippi area is moving east, targeting central Georgia, said Nikole Listemaa, meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Peachtree City office.

Any potential thunderstorms are forecast to occur before 10 p.m. in the area from Columbus to Macon. Possible hazards include damaging wind gusts of at least 60 mph and hail.

"If we get anything, it should be isolated," Listemaa said of metro Atlanta.

Temperatures are expected to be cooler with a high of 87 and a low of 70.

The news of Tuesday's rainfall comes after storms pounded Georgia Monday, leaving behind power outages, downed trees and other debris in the roadways.

Fox 5 Atlanta reported winds and heavy rain caused a tree to fall into a Decatur home, where a mother and her four children lived. The children were ages 3, 7, 11 and 12.

Listemaa said winds at the Peachtree DeKalb Airport climbed to 71 mph, which she declared the most severe wind damage in the area.

According to a notice from Georgia Power, at least 200,000 people lost power Monday. According to an outage map, thousands remained without power around 10:15 a.m. Tuesday, including more than 19,000 in Atlanta.

Hundreds of flights at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport were either canceled or delayed due to the severe weather. Meanwhile, local school districts canceled outdoor after-school activities.

Traffic lights were reportedly out across the metro, according to multiple emergency agencies.

Acworth Police reported Monday a traffic crash happened on South Main Street near McEver Road, causing a tree to fall and the roadway to be blocked.

Dunwoody Police reported downed power lines while Brookhaven Police reported a downed tree at Peachtree Road.

The Paulding County Sheriff's Office said the storms caused multiple hazards throughout the county.

Updates will be posted to the weather service's Twitter page, the weather service's Facebook page and on its website.