The remnants of Hurricane Sally flooded streets, flattened trees and knocked out power to thousands of Georgians Thursday, leaving behind a soggy, treacherous mess that shut down bridges and tangled traffic for miles on the interstates.
A motorist lost control of his Tesla in the wet conditions and jumped the curb near South Cobb Drive and Leader Road, killing a man who was sitting inside a Cobb Transit Service bus shelter. The driver was taken to the hospital with minor injuries. The investigation is ongoing; authorities have not said if charges would be filed.
Meanwhile, a falling tree killed a woman as she walked her dog on Capot Court near Snellville. A neighbor heard the tree fall and realized someone was trapped underneath the debris, Gwinnett County fire spokesman Capt. Tommy Rutledge said. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene. Her dog survived and was taken to a nearby veterinarian.
The slow-moving storm made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane with 105 mph winds near the Florida-Alabama line Wednesday morning, killing at least one person in Orange Beach. It crawled toward Georgia before it was downgraded to a tropical depression.
On the Gulf Coast, the storm waterlogged entire neighborhoods, destroyed docks and knocked out a section of a major bridge crossing the Pensacola Bay, The New York Times reported. A replica of Christopher Columbus' ship the Niña vanished from its dock on the Pensacola waterfront, according to the Associated Press. Authorities rescued hundreds of people from floodwaters.
More than 28,000 Georgia Power customers lost service amid the storm, which dumped as much as six inches of rain across parts of the Atlanta metro region. Areas around Macon and Americus soaked up 8 inches. The National Weather Service issued a flash flood watch that covered nearly all of the state.
Midday found residents of Atlanta’s Northcrest neighborhood surveying suddenly horizontal trees and dealing with the subsequent power outage.
“For today it’s kind of convenient that I’m not working,” said Mark Purvis, who’d just returned home from vacation.
“You’ve got to read a book now,” mused Mark Davis, pondering an interlude without wireless access.
Fallen trees, downed power lines and bridge closures kept authorities busy throughout the day in Dacula, Dunwoody, Johns Creek, Lilburn, Roswell and Sandy Springs.
In Tucker early Thursday morning, a tree fell across Danny Britt’s property off Brymond Drive. He and his neighbors lost power.
“I just pulled in 10 minutes ago and saw it,” he said of the tree, his voiced edged with exasperation. “I don’t imagine we are very popular back here in this neighborhood right now.”
Nearly every major interstate in Georgia experienced traffic tie-ups. At one point, a crash shut down all eastbound lanes of Interstate 20 at Ga. 142 in Newton County. The storm forced authorities to close the Ga. 54 on ramp to Interstate 285 in Fulton County.
In Sandy Springs, flooding forced officials to shut down Windsor Parkway Bridge. Buice Road was closed where it crosses over Johns Creek as authorities cleaned up a fallen tree and power lines.
Cobb County closed four of its parks because of high water. The storm also shuttered COVID-19 testing sites in DeKalb Thursday, pushing appointments to Friday.
A massive oak tree fell at the historic Cheek-Spruill House in Dunwoody, crushing two vehicles and bringing down power lines. No one was hurt. Another huge tree fell atop a car near Henderson Mill Road on the edge of Tucker. Authorities shut down part of the road, preventing Elizabeth John from catching a taxi home.
“Please, if you drive in the rain… be careful,” she implored. “Your life is very important.”
AJC staff writers Shaddi Abusaid, Zachary Hansen and David Wickert contributed to this report.
