Widespread damage from wind, hail and fallen trees

Jun. 15—MOULTRIE — Initial reports from Wednesday night's storms show a much worse picture than the severe weather Colquitt County experienced earlier in the week.

County Emergency Management Director Justin Cox was still gathering information about the damage from the storm this morning.

Meanwhile, the National Weather Service issued a tornado watch until 4 p.m. today, indicating the storms are not through with South Georgia yet.

Cox said all roads are open in Colquitt County as of about 10 a.m. He said there are 175 to 200 fallen trees to clean up.

The county saw high winds, hail and fallen trees — and structures damaged by all three, he said. Damage is widespread throughout the county. He was not aware of any serious injuries, though.

"Hail sizes ranged from softballs to quarters," he said. "Southeast corner of the county had the smallest hail and some did not have any."

Cox said E911 brought in extra staff to handle the workload, and utility companies are still working to restore power to some customers.

Colquitt EMC's website indicates 4,513 customers are still without power — 1,124 of them in the Moultrie area — as of about 10:30 a.m.

Colquitt EMC President Danny Nichols issued a statement on the company's website and Facebook page this morning that said some customers have been without power since Tuesday evening. He cited extensive damage to poles and lines and said EMC crews, contract crews and mutual aid crews from other areas have been working around the clock to get power flowing again.

Georgia Power's website reports only 4 customers in Colquitt County still without power.

The City of Moultrie had about 750 customers who lost power as the storm came through, but all had been restored as of 11 a.m. today, city Public Relations Director Amy Johnson said.

In a briefing emailed to The Observer at 5:40 a.m., the National Weather Service said more rounds of severe weather and flash flooding are possible over the next several days.

There is a slight risk of severe weather (Level 2 of 5) across Southwest Georgia. Large hail, damaging winds and tornadoes are all possible, the NWS said. A flood watch remains in effect.

"Strong to severe thunderstorms are ongoing across southeast Alabama early this morning," the NWS briefing said. "Additional strong to severe thunderstorms are expected to develop through the morning across southeast Alabama and the Florida Panhandle, moving eastward into the afternoon hours. Another round of strong to severe storms could develop to our northwest late this afternoon and move into our area this evening or overnight.

"Large hail (some very large), damaging winds, tornadoes, and heavy rainfall are all possible. Given recent heavy rainfall, trees may more easily come down with wetter soils. Also given wet soils, parts of the area will be more susceptible to flash flooding. An additional 2 to 4 inches of rain with localized totals up to 6 inches are possible.

"Additional rounds of severe weather and heavy rainfall are possible Friday and Saturday as well," the forecast concluded.