Electricity has been restored to most of the 15,000 or so Georgia Power customers left in the dark by severe thunderstorms that swept across metro Atlanta before daybreak on Friday.
Meanwhile, residents of several southeast Georgia communities were cleaning up from possible tornadoes that touched down after the squall line of storms exited metro Atlanta.
The National Weather Service reported that a possible tornado had damaged homes north of Dublin in the Holly Hills community of Laurens County just before 8:30 a.m.
The Weather Service said one house was destroyed and several others damaged by falling trees.
Another possible tornado in Johnson County damaged numerous building, the Weather Service said, adding that large doors were ripped off the Piney Mount Volunteer Fire Department’s station near Wrightsville.
All of metro Atlanta was under either a tornado or a severe thunderstorm watch during the early morning hours Friday, but those watches were gradually canceled as the storms moved southeastward.
Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta recorded a wind gust of 58 mph just before 5 a.m., and those high winds brought down numerous trees in Cobb County.
The AM750 and 95.5FM News/Talk WSB Traffic Center reported that downed trees were blocking roads “all over the county,” including at Burnt Hickory and Old Mountain roads, Manning Road at Whitlock Avenue, South Gordon and Old Alabama roads, Kennesaw Avenue at Old U.S. 41, Morgan and Sandy Plains roads, Lower Roswell Road at Lucky Road and Windy Hill and Favor roads.
Also in Cobb County, an huge pine tree was uprooted and came crashing down on Amy Marsaudon’s home in a neighborhood off Terrell Mill Road.
Marsaudon told Channel 2 Action News that she and other family members were awakened by a “ton of wind — branches were falling and we heard some rain.”
“All of a sudden, kaboom, and a branch came through the ceiling, scared us half to death,” she told the station.
Not far from there, a child was injured when one of several trees that fell near the intersection of Oak Knoll and Crossgate drives came crashing through the roof of a home, according to the Weather Service.
The stormy weather also hampered efforts to clear a tractor-trailer crash that was jamming traffic on I-285 and I-20 on the westside.
The truck, which was hauling copper wire, overturned about 3:30 a.m. on I-285 northbound just north of I-20, slamming into the median wall and knocking concrete into the southbound lanes.
Only one lane in each direction was open until about 5:45 a.m., when the southbound lanes were cleared. All but one northbound lane remained closed until nearly 6:30, when those lanes were opened. Eastbound traffic on I-20 trying to ramp onto I-285 northbound also backed up.
Rainfall totals through 7 a.m. ranged from .65 inch at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport to .83 inch in Alpharetta, .92 inch in Peachtree City, 1.01 inches in Johns Creek and 1.16 inches in Jonesboro.
At daybreak, Georgia Power reported 201 separate outages affecting about 15,000 customers. By 2:30 p.m., only about 800 customers were without power.
The rain ended across all of north Georgia by late morning, leaving sunny afternoon skies and temperatures in the 50s.
Channel 2 meteorologist Karen Minton said Saturday will be sunny, with highs reaching the mid-60s after chilly morning temperatures in the upper 30s.
Sunday will be mostly cloudy, with a 20 percent chance of rain, highs around 67 and lows around 43, Minton said.
The slight chance of rain will hold over into the first couple of days of next week, with highs in the mid-60s and lows in the mid-40s.
Staff photographer John Spink contributed to this article.
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