It was intense overnight as strong storms passed through Georgia. Thunderstorms and tornado watches have now subsided, and damage assessments are underway.
Northwest Georgia’s Paulding County was among the hardest hit by severe weather, which rolled into the state as part of a massive storm system that left at least 32 people dead nationwide.
Paulding County Sheriff Ashley Henson said no injuries were reported. He urged residents to stay home early Sunday to avoid downed trees and power lines.
“We’ve had a busy night. Paulding County was impacted pretty severely by what we believe was at least one tornado. We’re not sure; we’re going to have to get confirmation from the National Weather Service, but we believe a fairly strong tornado came through Paulding County last night,” Henson said.
At the height of the storm, the National Weather Service briefly issued a tornado warning for Fannin County but quickly canceled it.
Trees and power lines were reported down in counties across the state, resulting in power outages.
Just before sunrise, Georgia Power and Georgia EMC reported about 59,000 homes and businesses were without electricity statewide. The majority of outages were in metro Atlanta. By Sunday evening, power had been restored to all but about 5,000 customers.
