BREAKING: Stephens County Sheriff says storm knocks down trees across county
Pictured is a downed tree on Shady Lane that has the road completely blocked.
A severe storm occurred early this morning in Stephens County.
According to Stephens County Sheriff Randy Shirley there are areas of the county that received substantial damage from the storm.
He says there are a lot of downed power lines and trees in areas stretching from mid to the southern part of Stephens County, due to storm that occurred in the early morning hours.
Pictured is a downed tree at a residence on Whispering Pines, following a severe storm in Stephens County
The Sheriff reports that trees are on a house on Imperial Drive off of Bruce Creek and the family was entrapped; but reports are everyone is okay.
A tree also has fallen on a house on Buena Vista Drive.
Sheriff Shirley also told WNEG that a tree had fallen on his house.
He says many areas are unsafe to travel this morning.
Pictured is another downed tree due to the severe storm that hit in Stephens County.
According to Christopher Horne with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), survey teams will be in Stephens County at some point today.
He adds that the possible tornado track in Stephens County looks to have started in Southern Habersham County.
Renee Ledforme, who lives on Mize Road in Toccoa, tells WNEG News about her experience with the storm.
“Everybody’s safe, it just scared us all pretty bad when it happened,” she said. “We heard a loud whistling noise and then all of the sudden we heard a big thud…It shook the whole house, so I came out here (outside) and a tree was down in the yard and the power lines were down.”
Local authorities continue to work to remove downed trees and power lines from roadways across the county.
According to Hart EMC there are 3,668 customers in Stephens County without power at this time.
WNEG News will continue to post updates as additional information is received.