At least 1 tornado confirmed in Hall County

HALL COUNTY, Ga. — Crews across north Georgia are assessing damage left behind by storms that moved through overnight Wednesday and into Thursday afternoon.

Hall County Emergency Management officials confirmed an EF-0 tornado touched down along Gaines Ferry Road around 12:03 a.m. Thursday. The path was 2 miles long and nearly 75 yards wide with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph.

Channel 2′s Elizabeth Rawlins was in Hall County, where docks on Lake Lanier were left upside-down, boats were submerged and roofs were blown off of homes.

Rawlins talked to resident Sandy Andrew, who’s dock was blown away.

“This is where my dock was, and I woke up from the storm and it was gone,” Andrew said. “My other neighbor, his dock is completely upside-down.”

SO far, no injuries have been reported, but some residents said the financial cost of the storm is likely going to hurt.

“We are trying to dig out right now, but it’s pretty bad,” Jeff Dickson said.

So far, in other parts of metro Atlanta, the main reports have been trees and power lines brought down by the wind gusts, lightning and heavy rain.

In Hall County, Channel 2′s Darryn Moore watched as work crews repaired the damaged power lines along Gaines Ferry Road.

Uprooted trees from the storm were blocking the road. A prison work detail from the Hall County Sheriff’s Office used chainsaws to cut up the trees and clear the road.

In Cherokee County, lightning struck a home in Canton, setting it on fire. The homeowners were out of state at the time so no one was injured, but the home was destroyed.

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Channel 2′s Chris Jose was in Paulding County, where there was a lot of flooding on the roads. Residents were worried because in the dark, it’s hard to tell just how deep the water is.

“Apparently, we need an ark,” J.K Howells said. “Just trying to get home.”

Some drivers trying to get through on Sleepy Hollow Road had to simply turn around.

A neighborhood lake had spilled its banks and flooded Jodi Clemmer’s yard.

“It’s halfway up to the yard at our home,” Clemmer said. “And the road is covered to obviously where it’s not safe to travel in and out.”

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A Channel 2 Action News viewer in northwest Atlanta sent us videos of a giant tree blocking Baker Ridge Drive in the Collier Heights neighborhood.

The viewer said the neighborhood previously dealt with pine trees falling on a home around the same time last year.

In Gwinnett County, the roadway at Kilgore Road and Cross Road in Buford is closed due to power lines being down and damage to utility poles.

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