Powerful spring storms swept through several Southern states today, killing at least seven people died and leaving tens of thousands of people without power. Tom Bradshaw, a spokesman for the National Weather Service, said that the line of thunderstorms moved south from the Midwest on Monday, and by Tuesday northern Florida and the Carolinas were hit by heavy rain and high winds.
“The thing that has struck us most is the widespread damage that has been caused by the wind,” Bradshaw said. He added that his office had received more than 900 reports of wind damage from Texas to Virginia. Bradshaw said that at least a dozen tornadoes hit the region. Six people died in Georgia, said authorities. Two people died in Butts County, south of Atlanta today, after a tree fell onto an apartment building. They added that a 28-year-old man and his 3-year-old son were killed as they lay in bed. “Quite a few oak trees have fallen on power lines and on residences,” said Mike Riley, chief of the Jackson Police Department in Butts County. “We’re just lucky there haven’t been other fatalities.”
A man was killed in Dodge County, in south-central Georgia, when fierce winds upended his mobile home. The authorities added that two other people inside the home were injured. Lisa Janak, a spokeswoman for the Georgia Emergency Management Agency, said that some sort of damage from the storms was reported in 21 of the state’s counties. An 87-year-old man was found dead in Memphis after he was electrocuted by a power line knocked down by strong winds.
