A fierce storm system swept through northern Georgia Monday afternoon, knocking out power to thousands of homes and businesses.
While it rained off and on throughout the day, the brunt of the storm bore down on Habersham and neighboring counties in the late afternoon hours. The National Weather Service issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning around 4:30 p.m.
Schools let out early in Lumpkin and White counties to get students and buses home ahead of the impending bad weather.
In White County, they notified parents they would be releasing students at 1:30 p.m.
“We understand that this change may cause some inconvenience, but please know that it is being done with the utmost consideration for the well-being of our school community,” said Allison Funk, White County’s Director of Elementary Education.
The Habersham County Board of Education canceled its monthly meeting, which was set to take place Monday night. The meeting is now scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday, August 8.
Power outages
Rabun County got hit hard with power outages. Immediately after the storm hit, Georgia Power and Habersham EMC crews were working to restore service to some 3,000 customers who lost electricity.
By early evening, more than 2,000 customers were still without power in Rabun County.
Scattered outages were reported across the rest of the region, including in Habersham, White, Hall, Stephens, and Franklin counties.
For the second time in a week, the traffic lights went out at a major intersection on GA 365 due to a power outage.
The traffic lights at GA 365 and Duncan Bridge Road went down Monday, causing backups and traffic delays. The Habersham County Sheriff’s office alerted drivers to treat the heavily-trafficked intersection as a 4-way stop until power could be restored.
In metro Atlanta, over 100,000 people were still without power as of 7 o’clock Monday evening.
Lightning blamed for fire in Habersham
As the storm system swept through, forecasters warned of damage from hail and high winds. There were no immediate reports of widespread significant storm damage in Northeast Georgia, but in south Habersham County, a couple lost their storage shed to a lightning strike.
The homeowner told Now Habersham he and his wife heard the lightning hit. A few minutes later, his wife peered out the window and saw smoke coming from their backyard shed off Hosanna Lane.
He said by the time he dialed 911 and got to the burning shed, it was almost completely gone.
Habersham County Fire Station 12 responded, along with units from the Cornelia and Baldwin fire departments.
The shed was a total loss. No injuries were reported.
WRWH.com contributed to this report
