SEVERE STORMS NORTH GA., COAST BEAR BRUNT OF BAD WEATHER

Metro area largely unscathed Wednesday.

A storm system uprooted trees, knocked down power lines and led to tornado alerts throughout North Georgia on Wednesday, but metro Atlanta went largely unscathed.

Georgia Power reported 111 outages throughout the state, affecting 3,417 customers as of Wednesday evening. Most of those customers were in North Georgia and coastal Georgia.

A tree knocked down power lines and blocked a part of Green Street in Gainesville, Georgia Department of Transportation officials said. The street has since reopened.

Heavy rain and severe weather that blanketed northeast Florida and southeast Georgia provided some breathing room for fire crews battling the enormous West Mims fire in the Okefenokee Swamp and surrounding area, officials said.

Channel 2 Action News reported a possible tornado touchdown off Pleasant Hill Drive in Dalton, where a tree fell onto a home. There were other reports of trees down in North Georgia but no reports of any injuries.

And an emergency manager reported several trees down on Dale Court in Gilmer County, near Ollie, from a possible tornado touchdown, Channel 2 meteorologist Brad Nitz said.

But metro Atlanta hardly felt the impact of the storm system, with only spotty showers and a brief heavy downpour Wednesday afternoon, according to Channel 2.

Severe weather and hail was still possible later Wednesday night, with wind gusts that could reach 60 mph, Channel 2 reported.

“More showers and storms will develop,” Nitz said.

Metro Atlanta was also part of a flash flood watch that expired Wednesday evening, the National Weather Service reported.

The high for Wednesday was 79 degrees in Atlanta; the average high for this time of year is 82.