Severe weather brings black ice, falling trees

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga.,None — Severe weather led to dangerous road conditions and power outages in metro Atlanta and brought flurries to north Georgia.

A cold front brought gusty winds that prompted a wind advisory, which expired at midnight Friday. With the big drop in temperatures, leaking water spots froze over on roads, delaying morning commuters.

Channel 2's Carol Sbarge went to River Road in south DeKalb County, where police officers helped drivers to get around an icy hill.

"People, they're trying to rush up instead of taking their time and come up. They're trying to speed. They're going to slide," resident Shanderlesia Ponders said.

Later, Public Works Department crews arrived and sanded the area.

Elsewhere in the county, strong winds pushed a tree onto a home and ripped down power lines. Overnight, crews cut up the pine tree blocking Aberdeen Drive, but residents were still waiting on utility crews to restore power the next morning.

It was a similar scene in Cherokee County, where a tree knocked down a power line, leaving several homes without power for hours. At one point, strong winds left thousands without power across the state, but by Friday morning, Georgia Power said less than 100 homes had outages in the metro area.

"I mean, the wind was blowing like a whistle," homeowner Vera Zaine said.

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A falling tree destroyed the deck at her Canton home. Zaine said it was a scary moment for her family of three.

"When I heard it fall, I thought it was lightning or thunder coming down," she said.

The tree pierced the roof, ripped through ceiling and tore through her kitchen. Wallboard and insulation were everywhere.

"Sounded like an earthquake. It went boom," Zaine said.

No one was hurt.

Channel 2's Tony Thomas was in Gilmer County, where residents in the northern mountains were dealing with freezing temperatures and flurries. It was 28 degrees in the morning and drivers were warned to look out for black ice on the roads.

"It's really cold. I didn't expect it to be this cold because I thought we were still in the south, and this is really freezing," resident Jason Brewster said.

Severe Weather Team 2 meteorologist Karen Minton said there would be a warmup Friday. She said it would be sunny and breezy with highs in the low to mid 40s.

Temperatures will return to the 50s over the weekend, Minton said.

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WSBTV