Thousands without power in Middle Georgia as downed trees, flooding prompt road closures
UPDATE 6:14 p.m. — Flooding has closed State Route 19, both northbound and southbound lanes, at Jeffersonville Road (mile marker 5.48); the road is closed from mile marker 5.5 to mile marker 6.9. The road is blocked and barricades have been set up. GDOT estimates it will take four hours to clear the roads.
Original — Storms continue to dump rain on Middle Georgia, prompting flooding concerns a day after severe thunderstorms brought rain, high winds and hail.
More than 6,000 people in Macon are without power, according to Georgia Power, but only a handful of outages are reported in Milledgeville, where a tornado likely touched down Sunday. A tornado watch expired Monday morning at 11 a.m.
The storm went through Milledgeville starting on northwest Glynn Street before making its way over to Martin Luther King Drive, according to Milledgeville City Manager Hank Griffeth.
Atrium Health Navicent Baldwin County hospital suffered significant damage during the storm, Griffeth said. A roof caved in on a top floor and several poles and directional signs on their property were down.
The storm then hit businesses on North Columbia Street and moved to North Jefferson Street and the south side of MLK Drive before passing through east, according to Griffeth. The last spot the storm hit, Griffeth said, was a church near North Jefferson Street that had its back wall blown out.
Griffeth said there was significant structural damage to a few buildings and trees down, but no serious injuries were reported yet.
Milledgeville had around 7,000 people with no power Sunday but only 300 without power Monday morning, Griffeth added. He also said most roads are back open, including roads like North Jefferson and North Columbia that were hit harder by the severe weather.
Gov. Brian Kemp issued a state of emergency after tornadoes touched down in West Point and Milledgeville. The National Weather Service’s Peachtree City office could not confirm whether a tornado touched down in Milledgeville yet as of Monday morning.
Macon’s Terminal Station closed briefly Monday morning before reopening at about 12:30 p.m., MWA officials said. Buses were running with some detoured routes due to traffic lights without power and flooding.
Parts of Amerson River Park are closed due to flooding from the Ocmulgee River, according to Macon-Bibb County. To report damage to the county, call 478-751-7500 so crews can respond.
A meteorologist with the NWS said the rains were slowly moving south and out of Milledgeville, Macon and Middle Georgia and should be clear by Monday night. She said more showers, though less severe, could hit Tuesday morning.
The school districts in Baldwin and Twiggs counties canceled after school activities Monday.
