UPDATED Friday, 8:35 a.m. — After 14 hours, electrical power finally returned to many hundreds of homes in the central part of Peachtree City Friday morning. Residents in the Golf View and Coventry areas of Aberdeen Village lost power about 6 p.m. Thursday when a severe thunderstorm blew through with little advance warning.
A thunderstorm with high winds that seemingly came out of nowhere has caused damage, multiple downed trees and power outages all over Fayette County early Thursday evening. The late afternoon hours May 26 were subsequently busy for public safety workers across Fayette County. The intense early evening storm caused at least one power outage, numerous trees blocking blocking portions of some roadways and a house fire in north Fayette that is thought to have occurred after a lightning strike.
Power remained out overnight for a significant portion of Peachtree City residents, and some homes may remain without power until tonight, as crews work to restore power, city officials said.
The power outages knocked a number of traffic lights out of service along Ga. Highway 54 in Peachtree City.
The house fire in north Fayette occurred on Plantation Circle near Ga. Highway 314. Fayette Fire and Emergency Services spokesperson Donnie Davis said the fire was thought to the related to an apparent lightning strike at the residence. Davis said one of the homeowners suffered a burn on her hand, and also that the Red Cross had been alerted to assist the homeowners.
Traffic lights were inoperable along Ga. Highway 54 in Peachtree City, according to city officials. The storm also knocked out the westbound stop lights at Ga. Highway 54 and Tiger Trail in downtown Fayetteville.
A fallen tree along Flat Creek Road in Peachtree City resulted in the loss of power to an unknown number of homes. Firefighters at the scene had the road blocked to traffic.
Reports of downed trees came in from around the county. Trees blocked or partially blocked Ebenezer Road, New Hope Road, Sams Drive, Redwine Road and Robinson Road.
There also was a report of a tree down on a house in the area of Journey’s End in Peachtree City.
A power pole on Ga. Highway 92 snapped due to the winds, downing power lines and forcing the road to be blocked. And that was just one of several downed power lines. At 6:30 p.m., Fayette County’s 911 center had well over 10 “wires down” calls.
Power outages struck all the stores at the Fayette Pavilion, according to eyewitness reports. Power outages were also reported in Peachtree City, as the traffic lights at Ga. Highway 54 at Huddleston Road and Prime Point were out, being manned by police officers directing traffic.
And as always, when there are widespread power outages, there were also a significant amount of false burglar and fire alarm alerts.
The storm also brought heavy rain to the area.
Readers: Please leave us your storm story in the comments below
