Tornado Watch extended as Middle Georgia braces for dangerous storms, hail, flooding rain

A tornado watch has been issued extended for much of Georgia until 8 p.m. Wednesday with the second of three waves of severe weather expected Wednesday through midnight.

The watch area covers the counties of: Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Baker, Baldwin, Ben Hill, Berrien, Bibb, Bleckley, Bulloch, Burke, Butts, Calhoun, Candler, Chattahoochee, Clay, Coffee, Colquitt, Columbia, Cook, Crawford, Crisp, Decatur, Dodge, Dooly, Dougherty, Early, Emanuel, Evans, Glascock, Grady, Greene, Hancock, Harris, Houston, Irwin, Jasper, Jefferson, Jeff Davis, Jenkins, Johnson, Jones, Lamar, Laurens, Lee, Lincoln, Macon, Marion, Mcduffie, Meriwether, Miller, Mitchell, Monroe, Montgomery, Morgan, Muscogee, Peach, Pike, Pulaski, Putnam, Quitman, Randolph, Richmond, Schley, Screven, Seminole, Spalding, Stewart, Sumter, Talbot, Taliaferro, Tattnall, Taylor, Telfair, Terrell, Thomas, Tift, Toombs, Treutlen, Troup, Turner, Twiggs, Upson, Warren, Washington, Webster, Wilkes, Wilkinson, Worth.

The morning kicked off with a National Weather Service reported large hail at the Alabama border before 6 a.m. Wednesday and those storms are tracking toward Macon.

A severe thunderstorm watch for Bibb, Monroe, Houston, Pulaski, Crawford, Butts, Dooly Peach, Wilcox, Crisp and surrounding counties was posted until 9 a.m.

Bleckley County had a severe thunderstorm warning, but EMA director Mike Smith said no damage was immediately reported.

“Let’s hope that’s all,” Smith said after the first storm passed, but with his eye on the continuing threat through the evening.

A flash flood watch is in effect from 8 a.m. Wednesday until 2 a.m. Thursday as heavy rains are expected across the region through the day and into the night.

Forecasters expect a stronger bout of bad weather in the afternoon hours before a final flurry of storms in the evening hours.

Macon-Bibb County EMA Director Spencer Hawkins encourages everyone to have an emergency kit on hand and to find an interior room to take shelter.

Those living in mobile homes are urged to stay with friends or relatives in sturdier structures.

Hawkins encourages everyone to shelter in place during the storms and try to stay off the roads.

The Salvation Army in Macon will be open for those seeking safer shelter.

This story was originally published April 5, 2017 at 7:03 AM with the headline "Tornado Watch extended as Middle Georgia braces for dangerous storms, hail, flooding rain."