HOMELAND — Like a plodding northbound traveler headed up I-75, Tropical Storm Jeanne wobbled into Georgia early Monday following a general path along the interstate corridor, toppling trees, ripping off roofs and dumping up to 6 inches of rain that flooded dozens of homes.

More than 76,000 people in South and Middle Georgia were without power late Monday evening as Jeanne weakened to a tropical depression and moved into the Carolinas. Utility officials said power was restored to all but 4,000 statewide and 2,000 in the metro area by midmorning Tuesday.

JOHN SPINK/AJC (ENLARGE)
Laura Ferguson views what's left of a tree Monday at Delmar Avenue and Confederate Avenue in Atlanta's Grant Park neighborhood. Jeanne spared most metro Atlantans' power.
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Many of the hard-hit communities in Georgia were still cleaning up from Tropical Storm Frances, which roared through the state three weeks ago.

"Jeanne appears to have hit us three times harder than Frances," said Monroe Todd, director of the Charlton County Emergency Management Agency.

President Bush asked Congress for more than $7.1 billion to help Florida and other Southeastern states recover.

While not nearly the menace to metro Atlanta that Hurricane Ivan was, Jeanne nevertheless caused widespread power outages and flight delays, and left some residents fretting again about flooding.

At 11 p.m., more than 10,000 Georgia Power customers throughout the metro area were without electricity, said spokeswoman Lolita Browning. "As we got power up and running in some areas, other areas reported outages because the storm moved slowly through the metro region."

Monday night's Atlanta Braves game against the New York Mets was washed out and will be made up today as part of a doubleheader.

Heavy winds caused arriving flights at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport to be delayed up to 4 1/2 hours, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

Up to 5 inches of rain

Monday evening, Atlanta firefighters helped rescue a motorist and two children from a car trapped in high water on Woodward Way and Northside Drive.

As midnight approached, fire crews were helping residents on Hanover West Drive get into and out of their houses after the Bohler Road bridge was washed over by Peachtree Creek, which was expected to rise up to two feet above flood level by early today.

Other areas that tend to be flooded in heavy rains, Nancy Creek and the Chattahoochee River, were expected to crest above their banks.

The National Weather Service in Peachtree City said Atlanta received 3 to 4 inches of rain between 2 and 11 p.m. Another inch was expected through midnight.

But the worst damage in the state was reported in South Georgia. Charlton and Lowndes counties appeared to be two of the hardest hit areas in Georgia.

In Valdosta, the Lowndes County seat, residents of more than 125 homes were forced to evacuate. Trees felled by wind gusts of more than 40 mph crashed into more than 20 other homes, and some dams were at risk of bursting, said officials of the Georgia Emergency Management Agency.

About a dozen homes in Homerville in Clinch County were inundated by at least 4 feet of water. In Charlton County, which encompasses most of the Okefenokee Swamp, more than 80 percent of roads were washed out or impassable because of high water, Todd said.

"It seems like most of the county is under water," he said as he maneuvered around the county assessing the damage.

In the tiny town of Homeland, fallen trees blocked several streets.

Todd, who also is a Red Cross volunteer, stopped at two mobile homes crushed by huge trees and told the residents to head to the county courthouse in Folkston, where Red Cross workers were waiting to help with food, shelter and clothes.

New round of debris

A tree that fell on another home sent two people to the hospital, where they were treated and released.

People in the town of Folkston had been hauling to landfills about 25 tons of debris a day from Frances. "We are going to have even more debris from Jeanne," said City Manager Leonard Lloyd.

Gov. Sonny Perdue has declared a state of emergency through midnight Thursday to prepare for more flooding and damage and to prevent price gouging.

Fifty-six counties are already eligible to apply for federal disaster assistance because of damage from Frances and another 24 from Tropical Storm Ivan, which returned last week.

The National Weather Service said 2 to 4 inches of rain were expected east of Americus, Macon and Athens, with up to 6 inches possible in some areas.

Some caught off guard

School was canceled in more than 40 districts Monday, mostly in the southern and central areas of the state. Several schools were expected to remain closed today.

Some county officials said they were a little perturbed Monday because weather reports the day before had indicated they would not be pummeled heavily by Jeanne.

"I think the weather people missed the mark on this one," Todd said. He made the decision Sunday afternoon to close Charlton's only shelter because no one had shown up. "But when the wind started picking up late in the night, a few showed up. But by that time the electricity was gone."

Jeanne's eye passed near Albany early Monday as thousands of Florida residents filled motels along I-95 and I-75.

In Florida, people demoralized by the fourth hurricane in six weeks lined up for more than a half-mile for food and water, while others searched in vain for generators in the sweltering heat as residents began cleaning up all over again.

Hurricane Jeanne, with slashing winds reaching 120 mph, claimed at least six lives in Florida over the weekend as it plowed through virtually the same area that was bashed by Hurricane Frances earlier this month.

Together, Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne have generated the biggest relief effort ever undertaken by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

"I've stopped trying to assess which storm is worse than the other," said Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. "They are all powerful, they all wreaked havoc in our state and they all stink. They are all past the threshold of bad."

— Staff writer Saeed Ahmed and the Associated Press contributed to this article.