Driver escapes tree that landed on his truck, storms knock out power to thousands

ATLANTA — Severe thunderstorms have downed trees and knocked out power to thousands across metro Atlanta.

At least 38,000 Georgia Power customers were without power around noon Tuesday, according to the company’s outage map.

Severe Weather Team 2 tracked the storms as they moved through Tuesday afternoon. Channel 2 Action News viewers have sent us in reports of downed trees and power lines.

A tree fell on a truck on McPherson Avenue in DeKalb County and nearly crushed a man.

Sam Sinagra told Channel 2′s Tom Regan if he was driving any slower he’d be dead.

“I was driving down the street and the wind started blowing sideways and something just struck my windshield and the rest came down on me,” Sinagra said. “I just got out of the truck as fast as I could thinking something else might be coming down.”

The tree also damaged a nearby home and hit a parked car across the street. It knocked out power on the block too.

Utility crews also worked to repair downed power lines in Coweta County.

“All of a sudden it just went black as night and the wind started like something I’ve never seen before,” Sandee Crain told Channel 2′s Carol Sbarge.

Crain said the gusty winds lasted about 30 seconds. The National Weather Service says straight line winds of up to 78 miles per hour came through the area knocking down several trees.

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Here are some of the reports we have received so far:

Coweta County

DeKalb County

Fayette County

Peachtree City says all major intersections have no working traffic lights, according to the city’s police and fire departments.

Fulton County

A giant tree fell on top of a truck near McPherson Ave and Trilby Street. Channel 2′s Tom Regan says the driver walked away.

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