The Oconee County Sheriff’s Office says trees came down across the county during a Thursday evening thunderstorm, one that brought damaging winds to several other counties in northeast Georgia and throughout metro Atlanta. The University of Georgia says its Griffin campus is closed because of storm damage.
From WSB TV…
Gov. Brian Kemp has declared a state of emergency as violent storms that included likely tornadoes moved through North Georgia.
Severe Weather Team 2 Chief Meteorologist Brad Nitz and Meteorologist Brian Monahan tracked the storms since they started around 3:30 p.m. Thursday.
In a tweet, Kemp said, “Throughout this evening, Marty’s and my thoughts will return to those impacted by today’s severe storms and tornadoes.”
The Griffin area and parts of Troup County appear to be one of the hardest hit areas from the storms as they moved through North Georgia Thursday afternoon.
Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security have also opened its Emergency Operations Center because of the storms.
“We’re hearing widespread damage from areas where the storms have passed through and also from your coverage, we’ve had confirmed tornadoes. And so, we have field coordinators and staff en route to those areas,” said Mike Smith, chief of staff for Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security.
Smith said GEMA was staying in close contact with the Governor’s Office and keeping them updated with everything that is going on so they can get the right resources to the areas of the state that need them the most.
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