Nafessa Burdine had not yet opened her eyes Thursday morning, engaged in her daily prayer ritual, when she heard the unmistakable creaking sound of a tree giving way.
A moment later, branches and thick, wet leaves were coming through her ceiling. The DeKalb County resident’s first thoughts were of her two daughters and 5-month-old grandbaby visiting from Wisconsin asleep in the rooms next to hers. All were able to escape through a bedroom window, unharmed.
“It’s by the grace of God that we are out of here. It really is,” Burdine said as she surveyed the mess of roots unearthed by her favorite oak in the shaded backyard on Hollyhock Terrace. “Look at this tree.”
A line of storms that brought heavy rain and gusty winds moved into metro Atlanta before dawn Thursday, creating messy conditions for commuters and felling trees all across the region. The line had become less organized as it reached the suburbs, but it still packed a punch with 30 to 50 mph wind gusts.
Credit: John Spink / John.Spink@ajc.com
Credit: John Spink / John.Spink@ajc.com
“The ground is so wet from many days of heavy rain, and many days of widespread storms,” Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Brian Monahan said. “It doesn’t take much to bring down trees and power lines.”
Georgia Power was working to resolve about 200 active outages affecting more than 18,000 customers at 8 a.m., and the majority of those were in metro Atlanta. In Dawson County to the north, one person was reported struck by lightning, according to Channel 2.
With wet pavement and a tangle of crashes, commuters faced a “bumper-to-bumper battle” on the northside Perimeter much of the morning, WSB traffic reporter Mark McKay said. In Sandy Springs, just north of I-285, police blocked Northside Drive at Heards Ferry Road to clean up a fallen tree.
There remains a chance of an isolated thunderstorm and a Level 1 of 5 risk for severe weather through Friday morning. That risk extends into Friday afternoon for Atlanta and areas to the south.
As another weather disturbance clashes with a cold front, Monahan is calling for yet another round of storms timed for Friday morning’s commute.
“I don’t think they will be as widespread as (Thursday) morning, but still a stormy start,” Monahan said. With the rain around, temperatures should stick to the upper 80s Thursday and Friday, he said.
At Burdine’s home in the Mountain Brooke area of Decatur, the focus is on what’s next. The grandmother, who moved here from up north, said Thursday was a stark reminder of the dangers of living in a city in a forest.
“I love this area. I love it, but a tree this size — that’s scary,” she said. “You just never know what can happen.”
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
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