LOCAL IMPACT: Storm lashes hundreds of homes over widespread area of metro Atlanta

ACROSS GEORGIA: A half-dozen tornadoes leave one dead, tens of thousands without power

Early Sunday, Darryl Hudson saw the media reports about early Sunday storm damage in Clayton County's Ellenwood community and decided to check his niece's home in the Katherine Village subdivision.

Erica Hudson was in St. Louis, but as fate would have it, she called her uncle as he neared her place on Vanity Joys Lane.

Hudson tried to be a gentle as possible.

After he confirmed her house number, he said, "Your home is gone. Your top floor is in your backyard. Your garage is not even attached to your house anymore. All you've got are four walls barely standing up. All your stuff is in the backyard."

Her response: "Oh, no! I can't believe it!"

Neither could the hundreds of homeowners trying to clean up today in Clayton, Douglas and Carroll counties after a tornado struck —- one of at least six twisters that hit Georgia early Sunday, three in the metro Atlanta area.

The storms left a Mother's Day nightmare of hundreds of damaged homes and downed trees, tens of thousands of families without electricity, and at least one reported death, in Dublin in Middle Georgia.

Nationally, at least 22 people were killed in three states Sunday as tornadoes tore across the Plains and the South, Beside the Georgia fatality, at least 15 died in southwestern Missouri, and at least six were killed in Picher, Okla.

Later Sunday, in Duluth, a woman died when high winds that blew in on the heels of the storm caused the top of a tree to snap and fall on her as she was walking shortly before 5 p.m. in the Chatelaine Park Apartments.

Gov. Sonny Perdue declared a state of emergency in Bibb, Carroll, Douglas, Jefferson, Johnson and Laurens counties.

The storm touched 19 Georgia counties but hit an area from Clayton County south to Macon the hardest. Two buildings at Macon State College were heavily damaged, and half the trees on campus were broken or uprooted.

"This is the first time we've had such widespread damage," said Glenn Allen, spokesman for state Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine, who is sending representatives to affected areas today and hopes to have damage estimates by day's end.

In Clayton County, officials reported 173 homes damaged, 43 of them uninhabitable. In Carroll County, authorities placed the number of damaged homes at more than 100 along a line as long as 35 miles that stretched northeast from Bowdon.

Fulton reported only a handful of damaged homes but many downed trees and power lines. In Douglas County, downed trees closed some roads, and damage was reported early Sunday to homes and cars in two subdivisions, including St. Andrews Country Club.

At the height of the outages, 184,000 Georgia Power customers were without electricity. The utility initially said it would have all power in the Atlanta area restored Sunday night, but later had to back off from that promise. Continuing high winds had Georgia Power crews "going in circles," said spokesman Jeff Wilson. "We get one [area] fixed, and another goes down."

As of 9 p.m. Sunday, roughly 17,000 metro Atlanta customers and 72,000 statewide were without electricity.

Georgia Power said it expected to have service restored to all Atlanta-area customers by 8 a.m. today. Middle Georgians should be back on line by early Tuesday.

As he left Waco, Texas, on Sunday, President Bush said, "We send our prayers to those who lost their lives, the families of those who lost their lives.... The federal government will be moving hard to help. I'll be in touch with the governors to offer all the federal assistance we can."

Bush later called Perdue to offer his condolences and to talk about Georgia's needs for recovery. The president had been at his Texas ranch this weekend for the wedding of his daughter Jenna.

The National Weather Service reported the following tornado touchdowns:

> Carroll and Douglas counties —- two tornadoes, 4:10 a.m.

> Clayton, Henry, Rockdale and Newton counties, 5:10 a.m.

> Bibb and Twiggs counties, 5:50 a.m.

> Laurens County, 6:36 a.m.

> Toombs County, 7:25 a.m.

Residents in the hard-hit subdivisions in the Stagecoach, Panola and Rex roads area of Ellenwood in Clayton figured out early on what it took the Weather Service most of the day to determine.

"It was not the wind. There's no way. It had to be a tornado," said Mila Freeman, whose family is staying with relatives after their home was among the severely damaged in Ellenwood's Stagecoach Village subdivision.

Neighbor Jennifer Barker said she was awakened by "the worst sound I've ever heard."

"I couldn't move from where I was. I didn't know what to do. It was horrible."

Her home took a relatively minor hit, with damage to shingles and siding. Like many residents, she focused on the lack of injuries.

"It may not be the Mother's Day you wanted, but we have a lot to be thankful for," Barker said. "We're still alive."

Contact S.A. Reid at sereid@ajc.com, Mary Macdonald at mmacdonald@ajc.com and Christian Boone at cboone@ajc.com

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

 WALTER CUMMING / Staff 
TORNADOES RIP THROUGH GEORGIA 
At least six tornadoes affected Georgia Sunday morning at these locations. 
Source: National Weather Service Peachtree City