13 Killed In Storms in Georgia; 16 Counties In State Of Emergency

ATLANTA -- At least 13 people were killed in a storm system that ravaged north Georgia late Wednesday and into the early moing hours.

Gov. Nathan Deal originally declared a state of emergency in four counties -- Catoosa, Dade, Floyd and Walker, and later added 12 others to the list. Two, possibly three, toadoes touched down in Pickens County, according to the Georgia Emergency Management Agency, but residents in other areas reported seeing toadoes.

Severe thunderstorms, hail and damaging winds moved into north Georgia Wednesday evening. GA Daily News crews were across the area covering the devastation left behind. Images of demolished buildings, fallen trees and power lines were repeated across the region.

Channel 2’s Darryn Moore was in downtown Ringgold, in Catoosa County, where seven deaths were reported and more than a dozen buildings were destroyed. Some residents compared the area to a war zone.

”I’ve been here 51 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this before in my life, resident Jessie Thorton said.

Ringgold was later shut down after reports of a gas leak.

Another hard-hit area was Spalding County, where two people died in a mobile home, authorities said. Channel 2’s Linda Stouffer went to Highway 19, where rescuers with flashlights were walking through wreckage calling for victims.

”It’s just devastating, a resident told Stouffer.

The storms cleared Thursday moing, but more than 60,000 residents across the state were left without power, 11,000 of which were in metro Atlanta, Georgia Power reported.

GEMA officials said they would spend the day assessing damage and talking to county officials to get them cleanup resources. There were three Red Cross shelters in Dade, Walker, Catoosa counties for storm victims. In an interview with Channel 2’s Fred Blankenship, GEMA spokeswoman Crystal Paulk-Buchanan waed residents to be careful.

”Be extremely cautious this moing. There are power lines down across state. If you see a power line, avoid it. Also, trees may down, or they could dangling. So, be cautious about trees that haven’t quite fallen yet, she said.