Severe storm system hits South

A powerful system of tornadoes, hailstorms and lightning pounded the South, killing at least 8 people in the region and leaving a wake of uprooted trees, downed power lines and damaged homes.

The storms swept quickly through northeast Texas and Oklahoma and rolled into the South on Monday and early Tuesday, hitting Georgia and the Carolinas. The system was expected to pass through Florida and into the Atlantic Ocean by Tuesday night, according to the National Weather Service.

At least six people were killed in Georgia, including a 3-year-old child and his father who died after a tree fell into their home in Butts County. In rural Dodge County, a 45-year-old man was found dead under rubble after a mobile home was lifted and thrown off its foundation by powerful winds, officials said.

In Tennessee, an 87-year-old Memphis man was found dead after he was electrocuted outside of his home by a toppled power line, officials said. In Mississippi, a 20-year-old man was killed when his car struck a tree that had been knocked down across a road.

The National Weather Service was investigating about two dozen reports of tornadoes throughout the region and received more than 900 reports of wind damage, said Tom Bradshaw, a meteorologist with the agency.

“This is a typical severe spring weather outbreak,” Bradshaw said. “What’s fortunate is that we haven’t had any very strong tornadoes with this particular system.”

In Georgia, roads across the state remained closed, blocked by downed power lines and toppled trees. State officials on Tuesday began surveying the aftermath of the storms, with nearly half of Georgia’s counties reporting damage.

“It is scattered all over the state,” said Lisa Janak, spokeswoman for Georgia Emergency Management Agency. “Mother Nature played no favorites.”