Severe storms swept across northern Georgia overnight. Emergency crews from across the region responded to numerous reports of fires, downed trees, and power lines as heavy rain and high winds swept through the region.
“It was like a hurricane and a tornado mixed,” described Now Habersham’s Daniel Purcell, who was traveling on Highway 115 between Dahlonega and Habersham County at the height of the storm around midnight.
“It was like a hurricane and tornado mixed,” he said, describing the heavy rain and wind that swirled around him. “I was dodging trees and power lines just to get home.”
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First responders and utility crews stayed busy through the night responding to weather-related emergencies.
On Yeoman Lake Road in Clarkesville, 911 received a call that a tree fell on a house and car. Crews had to remove fallen trees from the road to reach the house. All occupants were reported to be safe, and no injuries were reported.
In Demorest, a downed tree and power lines reportedly trapped occupants inside a vehicle.
Emergency officials reported lightning struck a house on Trotter Road in Clarkesville. There was no fire, but the power company had to cut electricity to the home to prevent potentially damaged wiring from catching on fire.
The damage also extended into Banks County, where units responded to several fire calls. There was a report of a tree that fell onto a house on Cindy Drive.
‘Pure chaos’
According to Purcell, about a mile outside Cleveland, the weather turned from light rain and wind to “pure chaos.”
“You couldn’t see five feet in front of you,” he said.
Sitting at the stoplight in downtown Cleveland around 12:45 a.m. he said “the whole town went black” because of a power outage.
Much of the damage occurred between midnight and 2 a.m. as severe thunderstorms entered the region from the west. The rain and high winds were part of a system that spawned tornado watches across North Georgia, including one issued for Hall County around 11:30 p.m.
Roads across the region were impacted, with around two dozen roads in Habersham County alone reported blocked by fallen trees. Most of those roads were on the north end of the county around Clarkesville, including Trotter Road, Hardman Road, and the Orchard Road area. Most of those blockages have been cleared, and the roads reopened.
Power outages and road hazards
Crews from Georgia Power and local electric cooperatives spent the day working to restore electricity to thousands of customers left in the dark by the storm.
Public safety officials warned motorists to stay off the roads in the hours following the storm. Lingering flooding and the potential for trees to fall still exist. Officials advise not to cross bridges or culverts where flooding is observed and not to drive on flooded roads.
Treat any non-operational traffic signals as four-way stops and expect all downed utility lines to be energized even if buildings around them are not.
