Severe storms leave 1 dead, power mostly restored across metro Atlanta

At least one person was killed Sunday as severe storms brought heavy winds and rain across metro Atlanta, leaving thousands temporarily without power and placing medical staff on high alert at the Clayton County Jail.

Fire crews were called around 5 a.m. after a tree fell on a home in the 700 block of Matilda Place in northwest Atlanta, according to spokesperson Anare Holmes. The uprooted tree had collapsed on a man lying in his bed. The victim, who was not publicly identified, died at the scene from his injuries, officials said.

Credit: Ben Hendren

Credit: Ben Hendren

Those heavy winds, which were expected to reach up to 35 mph in some metro Atlanta areas, also caused a tree to fall on power lines at the Clayton County jail. The jail went dark for several hours except for a few illuminated exit signs, officials said.

Medical staff at the jail were on high alert after the outage affected inmates on breathing machines and other critical medical equipment, according to Sheriff Levon Allen. At about 10 a.m., Georgia Power spokesperson John Kraft and sheriff’s deputies both confirmed that the power was restored.

According to Allen, the outage affected refrigerators inside the kitchen along with internet service, computers and phone lines. The jail has emergency power generation, but the sheriff had said it was unclear “what systems, if any” were operating at the time of the outage.

“The safety and welfare of inmates and staff remains our top priority,” Allen said.

Credit: Ben Hendren for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Some Atlanta roads had standing water Sunday, including Harris Trail, where a Lincoln SUV was seen driving through after the storms. Nearby, firefighters were seen using a chainsaw to cut fallen trees along the roadway. One of the firefighters remarked they had done similar cutting about “four or five times today.”

Credit: Ben Hendren for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

There were several reports of trees blocking roadways in Cobb County, with impacted areas including Acworth Due West Road to Woodlawn Road. In Dunwoody, Mount Vernon Road at Mount Vernon Place was impassible, officials said. The Troup County Sheriff’s Office said there were trees down all over the county that were causing accidents.

In Johns Creek, police said a tree caused a string of power lines to fall onto Old Alabama Road. Bells Ferry Road in Cherokee County remained shut down between Gregory Lane and Summer Drive, where a power pole was uprooted and traffic lights littered the ground. Additional intersections in South Fulton also were without power, including Old National Highway at Flat Shoals Road, police said.

Credit: Ben Hendren for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

After restoring power to nearly 170,000 customers, Georgia Power, the state’s largest utility, said less than 4,000 were without power as of about 7 a.m. Monday. Their assessment teams had reported more than 100 broken or damaged poles, 300 spans of downed wire, and dozens of damaged transformers, according to the company.

Georgia EMC, which represents the state’s electrical cooperatives, said less than 7,000 customers were without power Monday morning, down from 108,000 Sunday.

By late morning Sunday, the storms were quickly pushed toward the East Coast, according to Channel 2 Action News chief meteorologist Brad Nitz. Sunday afternoon will see some clouds and northwesterly winds that will blow in colder air behind the storm system, he said.

“That’s going to bring us falling temperatures as we head through the afternoon,” Nitz said.

On Monday morning, temperatures dropped into the upper 20s and will stay low despite some afternoon sunshine. Tuesday is expected to be warmer, with a high of 57 degrees, but temperatures will drop the remainder of the week.

The rain is projected to return Wednesday, when temperatures will peak at 47 degrees in metro Atlanta, Nitz said. Thursday and Friday are expected to be slightly cooler.