The powerful storm system that swept across the Southeast on Sunday claimed at least nine lives, one in metro Atlanta. Eight other people died in Kentucky as creeks swelled from heavy rain and water-covered roads, AP reports.
The storm system brought heavy rains, high winds, tornado warnings, and widespread power outages to Georgia. Still, the northeastern part of the state escaped relatively unscathed.
Habersham County Assistant Director of E-911 Melanie Bellinger said there were no storm damage reports in the county. Rabun County EMA Director Brian Panell said there were no reports of any major storm damage Sunday, just a few fallen trees.
Outages
Statewide, the storm knocked out power to more than 217,000 homes and businesses. Utility crews spent much of Sunday restoring electrical service.
According to FindEnergy.com, as of 11:30 p.m. Sunday, only a handful of Georgia Power customers in Northeast Georgia remained without power. Blue Ridge EMC reported 137 members without electrical service in Union and Towns counties.
Linemen battled high winds as they worked to restore electricity. Powerful wind gusts continued throughout the day Sunday, making the cooling temps feel even colder. Temperatures are expected to plummet overnight, with lows expected to fall to around 27 degrees.
Sunday morning storm
According to Now Habersham weather forecaster Tyler Penland, the storm on Feb. 16 arrived in Northeast Georgia slightly ahead of schedule. He says a brief tornado warning was issued for parts of Franklin and Elbert counties, and there “may have been a brief spin up east of Toccoa.”
The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for parts of Stephens County shortly after 5 a.m. Sunday.
Maximum wind gusts at the Habersham County Airport reached around 44 mph, according to Penland, while wind speeds came in right around 10 mph in the Clarkesville area. Most of the higher gusts blew through the southern parts of the county.
The highest gusts in the region were reported in Gainesville at around 52 mph, he said.
