Unlike some parts of north Georgia, Hall County escaped with little damage from the storms that rumbled through the area Thursday.
Hall County Emergency Management Agency Director David Kimbrell said there were a "considerable number of trees and some power lines (down)...mainly focused in (the) northeast part of county."
Kimbrell said there were numerous trees down and power outages in the areas around Clarks Bridge. Stanceil, B. Clark and Bill Wilson roads. There were scattered reports of trees down in other parts of the county, he added, but "no injuries, no fires, no major incidents."
Rainfall at Lee Gilmer Memorial Airport in Gainesville totaled .49 inches and the top wind gust at the airport was 56-mles-an-hour.
There were several stormed-related fires in Gwinnett County. County fire department spokesman Colin S. Rhoden said there were 21 calls about wires that were down, nine fire alarm calls, one house fire, five woods fires, five reports of trees on buildings, and one "structure collapse."
In Jackson County, Steve Nichols, Director of Emergency Services for the county, reports that 21 trees were down and across roads and highways following the storm but all roads have been cleared. Nichols said there were four reports of power lines down, but only "minimal" outages.
He said there was minor damage to one house in Jefferson that was caused by a tree that fell on it and one car was damaged by a falling tree.
Jackson EMC spokeswoman Bonnie Jones said the storm left 4,062 Jackson EMC customers without power but within two hours Thursday night, power had been restored to 2,570 of those affected, and line crews worked through the night to repair damages from the storm.
"High winds brought down trees and tree limbs, tearing down power lines and breaking four power poles (in the Gillsville, Braselton, Clarks Bridge Road and Gum Springs areas)," Jones said. "By 7:00 a.m. today, power had been restored to all but 25 customers in the Kubota Drive area of Hall County." But by mid-morning, power had been restored to all Jackson EMC customers affected by the storm.
CANTON AREA, SANDY SPRINGS HIT HARD
In Sandy Springs, roads were still blocked by fallen limbs and debris early Friday.
"A huge tree did fall and it's blocking the road; it's a big tree," said Gene Cambardella, who lives in a Sandy Springs neighborhood where large oak and pine trees are commonplace. He reported the massive tree came down across a dead-end street in a neighborhood of two-story suburban homes, blocking any exit for several neighbors.
"We can't get out," he said. "It fell across the street into another front yard and it took down the power lines. I looked at the trunk and it must be 3 feet in diameter. I'm glad it fell opposite the neighbor's home and away from the house."
In that Sandy Springs neighborhood, one of Cambardella's neighbors immediately put up emergency tape marking a downed power line sprawled across a front yard. Large limbs were down all around the neighborhood.
In Canton, National Weather Service forecasters say falling trees left two people with non-life threatening injuries. Forecasters said they would likely send officials to that area Friday to determine whether a tornado touched down there. Authorities say they suspect that many of the fallen trees in metro Atlanta were toppled by powerful straight-line winds.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
Sunday
July 20th, 2025
6:54AM
