At least one person was killed, some buildings were damaged and cars were overturned due to a tornado that touched down at Adairsville, Ga., late Wednesday morning.
Both lanes of Interstate 75 near Adairsville were closed after the storm hit. Reports were that dozens of cars near the Adairsville exit were turned over when the tornado struck.
The victim was reported to be a man in a mobile home.
A factory at Adairsville was heavily damaged.
The storms knocked out power to 8,500 customers in Georgia, including 5,800 in the vicinity of Adairsville.
The Salvation Army in Chattanooga was on its way to serve tornado survivors and emergency personnel in the North Georgia communities of Adairsville, Calhoun and Rome.
Lt. Lee Wilson is on the ground in Adairsville at the local Emergency Management Office and updating Salvation Army personnel. Major Art Fultz of Dalton is making his way to the community of Calhoun to serve and Capt. Doug McClure is serving in Rome. The Salvation Army is assessing the needs for services and is in immediate communication with emergency managers of these communities, officials said.
The Chattanooga area was under a tornado watch on Wednesday morning as a line of severe storms passed through a widespread area of Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee. A flood warning was later issued, and some roads were closed due to high water.
A strong storm passed near Pikeville and Dunlap and on into extreme Northern Hamilton County toward Rhea County.
Some schools closed or had a start delay due to the threatening weather.
Closed were Sequatchie County Schools and Dunlap Adventist Christian School.
On a two-hour delay were Bledsoe County, Cumberland County, Grundy County and Van Buren County Schools.
There was some severe storm damage around Nashville. A 47-year-old man was killed when a tree fell during the night on a shed where he was staying.
There was an EF2 tornado with winds of 115 miles per hour that passed through Mt. Juliet, Tn., near Nashville. A three-story building was heavily damaged.