The rain cleared and flooding chances diminished Sunday. But by then, storms had made a big mess of things in areas northeast of metro Atlanta. Heavy rains toppled trees and power lines, leaving thousands without electricity and others with damaged homes.
Just over 8,000 Georgia Power customers statewide were without electricity shortly before 7 p.m., down from 20,000 earlier in the day, the utility reported. The majority of the outages were reported in northern Gwinnett, Hall, Clarke and Oconee counties.
In Gwinnett County, a tree landed on a camper where an 18-year-old was sleeping. But the boy’s father was able to pull him to safety.
In Franklin County, the Sheriff’s Office urged residents to stay off roadways until trees could be cleared by numerous crews. Sunday afternoon, about 28 roads were closed or partially blocked from trees and lines in Banks County, the Sheriff’s Office there reported.
No injuries were reported from the overnight storms. But Red Cross volunteers assisted at least four families whose homes were damaged by falling trees, a spokeswoman said.
“Today, we’re still actively coordinating with state and local emergency partners, keeping a close eye on river levels, and making sure our volunteers and supplies are ready to go, ” said Eric Corliss, Red Cross Disaster Officer for Georgia. “Once things stabilize in Georgia, we’ll release people and vehicles to help our hard-hit neighbors in the Carolinas and other states.”
Isolated showers are expected to linger into Monday, Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Brad Nitz said. But the heaviest rain should be over, he said.
“Our rain threat is not completely over, but the chance for flooding is,” Nitz said.
There is a 30 percent chance of rain Monday, followed by dry skies for the rest of week, Nitz said. Monday’s high temperature is expected to reach 70 degrees and warm up to the upper 70s by midweek.
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