GEORGIA — Parts of Georgia are recovering from a tornado that tore through the area during overnight severe thunderstorms, shaking up one particular city in the midst, weather officials told Patch.
Multiple tornado warnings were issued shortly before midnight Wednesday due to a radar-confirmed tornado, said Meredith Wyatt, meteorologist with the National Weather Service’s Peachtree City office.
She said warnings were sent out for Conyers in Rockdale County, areas south of Macon near Warner Robins and areas south of Athens to include Greene, Wilkes and Oglethorpe counties.
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The weather service has received reports suggesting much of the tornado damage was in Conyers.
Channel 2 Action News shared video from a news chopper, indicating what the outlet says is extensive damage in Conyers.
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The Rockdale County Emergency Management Agency asked morning commuters to be cautious as downed trees, debris and power lines had forced multiple road closures.
Dennard Road, Milstead Avenue, McDaniel Mill Road, 1460 Ebenezer Road, Adrien Circle and Hurst Road were all closed Wednesday morning.
The Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office said around 1 a.m. that it was working to respond to service calls.
“Thank you citizens for reporting outages and damages from fallen trees. The sheriff’s office is working diligently to respond to all calls for service. We appreciate your patience. Hold on to your pictures and videos if you have damage for assistance or insurance claims,” authorities said in a Facebook post.
There were at least 16 outages near Conyers, impacting nearly 1,000 customers, as of Wednesday morning, according to the Georgia Power outage map. Rockdale County Schools are currently on spring break.
Several severe thunderstorm warnings were issued for north and central Georgia.
The storms were “pretty active across much of the state last night,” Wyatt said.
The weather service plans to send out survey teams to investigate damage in the warning areas and to determine the strength of the tornado.
Rockdale, Walton, Newton and Morgan counties all had downed trees and power lines, as well as areas south of Macon like Peach and Houston counties, Wyatt said.
Flash flood alerts were issued for southern metro Atlanta and parts of Coweta and Heard counties. Wyatt said 1-3 inches of rain occurred in these areas.
Gov. Brian Kemp has not yet issued any weather-related orders; however, Patch is awaiting a reply from his office for comment.
Georgia is one of several states that endured tornado watches Tuesday night, the Associated Press reported. Watches were issued for parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, West Virginia and Virginia.
A northeast Oklahoma storm spawned three suspected tornadoes and heavy rainfall, which reportedly killed a 46-year-old Tulsa woman who was considered homeless. The woman had been sheltering in a drainage pipe, the Associated Press reported.
More than 140,000 West Virginians were left without power Tuesday afternoon, with parts of the state suffering damage from a storm, the outlet reported.
As for the remainder of the week in Georgia, Wyatt said the weather should be “clear and cooler.”
“Definitely a change from what we’ve been seeing the past few days,” she said.
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