Late-afternoon storms that popped up quickly brought thunder, lightning and strong winds to the metro area Thursday afternoon. Friday morning, the real work began: Cleanup.
Around 900 Georgia Power customers were without electricity at 7 a.m. Friday. Outages were widespread, ranging from south Fulton to DeKalb counties and areas south, according to the utility company. Check power outages here.
Renee Mumford, of College Park, said electricity in her home was out for about 12 hours, but was restored around 6 a.m., just in time for her to get ready for work. Mumford said her teenagers, 17 and 14, were the only ones home when a storm moved through Thursday afternoon.
“They started running to the basement because they could hear the trees falling,” Mumford told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Mumford’s home was spared from damage, but several trees were down on her property and along her Deerfield Trace street.
In Gwinnett County, firefighters believe lightning sparked a fire that caused significant damage to a Snellville home. A neighbor told investigators he heard a loud pop when lightning struck the Timerloch Court home, according to Lt. Jerrod Barrett with the fire department.
No one was home when the first started, Barrett said. The homeowner is a military chaplain and is currently at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, a relative told firefighters.
Isolated storms are again possible Friday afternoon, according to Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Karen Minton. There is a 20 percent chance of rain Friday and a 30 percent chance Saturday, Minton said.
— Photographer John Spink contributed to this report.
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