Wed. storms knocked out power, downed trees

ATLANTA - Georgia Power said crews spent part of Thursday working to restore service to more than 600 customers in metro Atlanta after storms downed trees and power lines late Wednesday. The storms which struck other parts of north Georgia as well, also downed trees in the Gainesville area.

Georgia Power said most of its outages were on the northern and northeastern parts of metro Atlanta.

In Union City, in the south metro area, a lightning strike sparked a fire at a retirement home. No injuries were reported and a house in Cherokee County, on the northside, was engulfed in flames after a lightning strike.

In Rockdale County, minor flooding, down trees and power lines were reported in downtown Conyers, which sustained significant damage. No injuries were reported.

The storms brought down a tree that fell across a yard on Dunn Drive near Enota school. Another was across a driveway on Skyline Drive off Cleveland Highway north of Gainesville.

The top wind gust recorded at Lee Gilmer Memorial Airport in Gainesville Wednesday was 36 miles-an-hour. Rainfall at the airport Wednesday totaled 1.48 inches.

Rains returned to Gainesville after a one-day break following 16 straight days of showers. (See earlier story. Link below.)

(AccessNorthGa.com's Ken Stanford contributed to this story.)

This damage was on Skyline Drive off Cleveland Highway north of Gainesville. (Photo by Phil Loveless)

This tree fell across a yard on Dunn Drive near Enota school in north Gainesville. (Photo by Phil Loveless)

http://accesswdun.com/article/2013/7/263654