Strong storms dump hail, heavy rain across metro

ATLANTA — Severe and strong storms swept across metro Atlanta again Saturday afternoon after a round of storms ravaged the metro earlier in the day.

As of about 11 p.m., Georgia Power said they had more than 23,000 customers without power after storms downed trees and power lines.

Channel 2 Action News viewers sent in photos and video of golf ball to tennis ball sized hail that fell in areas like LaGrange, Lawrenceville and Dacula.

Strong storms that moved through the Athens area downed trees, closing the Inner Loop between Chase and Commerce roads.

The threat of storms also caused officials at SunTrust Park to move concert goers off the field until the possible storm threat passed.

County music star Jason Aldean was holding a concert at the ball park. It was slightly delayed but got underway without any serious weather issues.

“The severe threat is basically done for most of north Georgia,” Walls said.

Walls said Sunday morning will start off dry with temperatures in the high-60s to low-70s.

“Showers and storms will start to bubble up Sunday afternoon. First in our northern-most communities and then sag toward the south,” Walls said. “But, good news is the showers and storms tomorrow are not expected to be on the severe side.”

The chance of rain will remain throughout the week.

Severe storms also cause problems throughout Saturday morning.

Channel 2's Lauren Pozen was in northwest Atlanta where residents say lightning hit a transformer, sparking a fire and killing power.

Residents off DuPond Circle and Marietta Road said the storms came rolling through just after 6 a.m. Chuck Day, who lives in the neighborhood, told Pozen that low-hanging trees are always a problem in the neighborhood during storms, and that they have reported the issue to Georgia Power.

“Every time there is a storm in this community, and I mean every time, a tree falls on our road," Day said. "The trees are old and need to be trimmed and cut back."

A spokesperson at Georgia Power told Pozen they are working to remove dead and diseased tress in the area.

In Gwinnett County, a massive tree fell across Suwanee Dam Road. By early Saturday afternoon, power lines were still down and blocking Lawrenceville-Suwanee road between Buford Highway and Smithtown Road.

County officials said storms left trees and branches on at least nine homes and lightning sparked two fire. No injuries were reported.

Gilmer County officials say they also sustained significant wind and rain damage and flooding.

At the height of Saturday morning's storms, over 45,000 people were without power.

Cox Media Group