Monroe County ‘smacked pretty hard’ as severe storms cross Georgia

A line of severe storms raked across Middle Georgia firing sounding off tornado warning alarms in Monroe, Bibb and Jones counties as it tracked eastward Monday.

Damage in Monroe County was widespread, said Matt Perry, the county’s emergency management director.

“We got smacked pretty hard,” Perry said.

Trees fell on several homes in Culloden on Norwood and College streets and in Smarr.

The interstate was riddled with wrecks. Trees blocked several lanes of Interstate 75 and one fell on top of a car, crushing it.

In Forsyth, Perry said the Burger King sign was blown on top of several cars.

Juliette also was reporting damage but the extent was unclear.

A large tree was down across Ga. 341 North at the Crawford and Monroe county line. U.S. 41 and Ga. 18 also were blocked due to down trees. Trees were reported down on homes

Severe thunderstorms dumped heavy rain across the area as winds gusted to hurricane force.

In Houston County, a mile east of Redding, a wind gust of 80 mph was reported near the Turner Park neighborhood on Robins Air Force Base, according to preliminary damage reports from the National Weather Service.

Initial storm reports show trees down along Pleasant Grove Road south of Yatesville in Upson County.

In Spalding County, power lines crashed down in Griffin and a tree was blocking east College Street.

In Macon, power lines and a tree were brought down on Randolph Street just after 1 p.m.

The National Weather Service had issued a Severe Thunderstorm Watch for all of Middle Georgia until 5 p.m. as the storms were approaching from the west.

Another tornado warning for Baldwin County was sounded just after 2:30 p.m.

For more on this story, return to Macon.com and read Tuesday’s Telegraph.

This story was originally published April 3, 2017 at 1:47 PM with the headline "Monroe County ‘smacked pretty hard’ as severe storms cross Georgia."