Storms ripped through the metro area Monday afternoon and evening, dumping rain, hail and bringing intense winds.
The National Weather Service issued tornado warnings for several counties in metro Atlanta and northwest Georgia Monday evening. But shortly before 7 p.m., most of the warnings were lifted.
The storms rolled in from northwest Georgia, barrelling through western metro counties before rolling across downtown Atlanta and into southern metro area.
Lightning sparked a house fire in Buford, according to Capt. Tommy Rutledge with the Gwinnett County fire department. A woman was home at the time, but was not injured, Rutledge. No injuries were reported in the metro area.
One person was killed in a wreck in Pike County, about an hour south of downtown Atlanta, but it was not immediately known if the wreck was weather-related. Pike County schools will be closed Tuesday as the county continues to clean up, the district posted on its website.
Shortly before 9 p.m., about 73,000 Georgia Power customers were without electricity, the utility said. About 6,700 customers in metro Atlanta were without power, mostly on the south side of the city.
Thunderstorms dumped rain and hail, some as big as 2 inches in diameter, in western Georgia counties, according to Glenn Burns, chief meteorologist for Channel 2 Action News.
Baseball-sized hail was being reported in Coweta County, according to Meteorologist David Chandley, also with Channel 2. Trees and power lines were reported down throughout the metro area.
A ground stop was temporarily in effect at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, according to the FAA. Flights arriving and departing were experiencing delays of more than an hour.
The storms were bringing powerful winds and intense lightning, Burns said. Shortly before 6 p.m., the storm appeared to be heading toward downtown Atlanta, he said.
Floyd County reported damage and injuries in the south part of the county, along Rockmart Highway and U.S. 27, the Rome News-Tribune reported.
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