ATLANTA — The National Weather Service says two tornadoes moved through metro Atlanta Tuesday morning, leaving neighborhoods littered with debris and thousands without power.
An EF1 tornado touched down in Alpharetta, and an EF0 tornado caused damage in East Point, according to the National Weather Service.
Severe Weather Team 2 tracked the storms through the night and then again Tuesday afternoon as another round of heavy rain passed over metro Atlanta. A tornado watch issued on Tuesday afternoon expired as the storms moved out of the state.
“Tomorrow we could see a few sprinkles in far north Georgia but for the most part we have an improving forecast,” chief meteorologist Glenn Burns said.
Many Channel 2 Action News viewers reported trees and limbs down across Georgia.
Channel 2’s Mike Petchenik talked to a man who said the storms toppled a tree onto his house and blew a trampoline into the trees.
“It looks bad, but it isn’t nearly as bad as what you see out there in the Midwest sometimes,” said North Fulton resident Wesley Cagle.
Cagle said when he heard tornado warnings around 6 a.m., he took cover. In just seconds, winds toppled a tree onto Cagle's house, tossed a trampoline into the trees and destroyed his pool.
"It got just real dead quiet, heard this rumbling, hair started standing up all over my body and it really sounded like a train coming,” Cagle said.
Mark Burson owns a home on East Bank Drive in Cobb County. Tuesday morning's storms took down trees and caused plenty of damage, but fortunately no one was hurt.
Georgia Power reports thousands of outages
Georgia Power reported tens of thousands of outages in metro Atlanta as the first line of storms moved through Tuesday morning.
In total, over 50,000 customers lost power. Most have had power restored Tuesday afternoon.
Power was out for several schools across metro Atlanta Tuesday.
Channel 2’s Tony Thomas spoke with parents at Humphries Elementary School who said someone donated a box of penlights. Each student was given one, and classes continued through the power outage.
Some parents brought their kids back home after learning of the school’s power outage.
“I definitely don’t want mine to stay. And they’re hungry. How are they going to eat? And I’m sure it’s cold in there,” said parent Derreka Thrower.
Atlanta Public School officials said more than half of the 350 students at the elementary school were absent Tuesday morning, they suspect because of power outages.
If your electricity goes out it's important you contact Georgia Power.
You can also check outage maps on the company's website or sign up for text alerts to get an estimated time your power will be restored.
Georgia Power says it has a tree trimming program throughout the year to remove trees from around power lines.
Storms leave deadly path
The same storm system left one person dead and several others injured in Arkansas.
A tornado that touched down near Ashdown, about 150 miles southwest of Little Rock, killed a man and injured his wife when their home was destroyed early Monday, according to meteorologist Joe Goudsward with the weather service in Little Rock.
Goudsward said that tornado was an EF2 on a scale that rates twisters from EF0 to EF5, Goudsward said. A second one, near England, about 30 miles southeast of Little Rock, was rated an EF1, meaning it was less powerful than the other one.
Two tornadoes also touched down in Missouri on Monday morning, causing some roof damage and toppling trees, according to the National Weather Service. In Alabama, a tree fell on a mobile home about 25 miles northwest of Birmingham, killing a 75-year-old woman and injuring her husband, said Walker County Coroner J.C. Poe.
In Louisiana, Gov. Bobby Jindal declared a state of emergency Monday as the severe weather moved across his state, downing trees and power lines and leaving thousands without electricity.
And in Texas, lightning was suspected in a fire that set ablaze an oil well site near Longview, while downed trees were reported in parts of northern Louisiana.
University of Louisiana at Monroe spokeswoman Kiwana Sutton says several downed trees prompted officials to cancel all classes and shutter the campus until Tuesday morning. Schools in several states canceled evening activities and delayed classes Tuesday.
When there is severe weather in your area, stay up to date with hour-by-hour forecasts and watch our newscasts live with our Severe Weather Team 2 iPad app. You can also download our Severe Weather Team 2 Weather Radio app for your iPhone.
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