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Downed trees, hail, heavy rain, power outages slam metro Atlanta Saturday night

Here are the latest warnings and alerts.
Image courtesy Jessica Ivey

Another round of violent storms brought heavy rain, high winds and hail throughout metro Atlanta Saturday night.

Numerous cities and counties were under severe thunderstorm warnings, and all of north and central Georgia remain under a severe thunderstorm watch until 2 am Sunday.

Click here for our 11Alive warnings and alerts page.

11:30 pm -- In Fulton, 2,501 Georgia Power customers remain without power; 840 in DeKalb; 8,682 in Athens-Clarke County; and 2,209 in Gilmer counties.

9:43 pm -- More than 18,000 Georgia Power customers are without power throughout Fulton, DeKalb and Gilmer counties. More than 9,500 of those customers are in Athens.

9:21 pm -- Field seating at SunTrust Park had to be evacuated before the Jason Aldean concert.

8:42 pm -- A severe thunderstorm warning has been issued until 9:15 pm for northern Oconee County, southeastern Barrow County, Clarke County, southeastern Jackson County, northwestern Oglethorpe County and southwestern Madison County. A severe thunderstorm was located nine miles west of Athens, moving east at 45 mph, bringing 60 mph wind gusts and ping-pong ball-size.

8:36 pm -- A severe thunderstorm warning has been issued for Cobb County, including the cities of Marietta, Smyrna and Kennesaw until 9:15 pm.

8:23 pm -- A severe thunderstorm warning has been issued for the cities of Winder, Statham and Russell until 8:45 pm.

8:20 pm -- A home in Stone Mountain caught fire from a lightning strike and suffered extensive damage. The homeowners were out of town and no one was injured.

8:05 pm -- A severe thunderstorm warning has been issued until 8:30 pm for SW Barrow County and east central Gwinnett County. At 8:04 pm, a severe thunderstorm was located over Lawrenceville, moving east at 40 mph, with 60 mph wind gusts and quarter size hail.

7:47 pm -- More than 2,600 people are without power in DeKalb County, according to Georgia Power.

7:30 pm -- A severe thunderstorm warning has been issued until 8:15 pm for Rockdale, southeastern DeKalb, south central Gwinnett County, west central Walton County, and northwestern Newton County.

At 7:29 pm, a severe thunderstorm was located over Lithonia, near Conyers, moving east at 40 mph. It was bringing 60 mph wind gusts and half-dollar size hail. Areas included under the watch were Conyers, Covington, Loganville, Oxford, Lithonia, Porterdale, Walnut Grove, Lakeview Estates, Georgia International Horse Park, Almon, Milstead, Belmont, Richardson Park, Youth, Arabia Mountain,

Big Haynes Creek Park, Redan, Rosebud, Panola Mountain State Park and Gum Creek.

7:30 pm -- More than 6,000 Georgia Power customers in Fulton County are without power, as another round of storms and severe weather has impacted customers. In DeKalb, more than 500 are without power, while more than 1,700 customers are experiencing outages in Cobb County.

7:02 pm -- A severe thunderstorm warning continues for Woodbury, Greenville and Warm Springs until 7:15 pm.

6:47 pm -- A tree in Grant Park fell onto a power line, resulting in a fire that DeKalb firefighters had to extinguish.

6:46 pm -- A severe thunderstorm warning was issued for SW DeKalb County, northern Clayton County, and south central Fulton County, along with the cities of Atlanta, Decatur, Jonesboro, East Point, Stockbridge, Union City, Forest Park, Riverdale, College Park, Fairburn, Morrow, Hapeville, Avondale Estates, Lake City, Belvedere Park, Hartsfield-Jackson Airport, Grant Park-Zoo Atlanta, Candler-Mcafee, Druid Hills and Rex, until 7:30 pm.

6:20 pm -- A severe thunderstorm warning is in effect until 6:30 pm for SW Douglas and SW Fulton counties.

6:04 pm -- A severe thunderstorm warning has been issued for Troup County in west central Georgia and portions of north-central Harris County in west central Georgia until 6:45 pm. Cities under the warning include LaGrange, West Point, Mountville, Cannonville, Louise, State Line Park, Abbottsford, Piedmont Heights, Big Springs, Wares Crossroads, Jones Crossroads, Baughs Crossroads, Smiths Crossroad, Whitesville-Pine Lake and Long Cane.

5:42 pm -- All of metro Atlanta, north and central Georgia are under a severe thunderstorm watch until 2 am.

5:36 pm -- A severe thunderstorm warning was issued for portions of extreme west Georgia including the cities of Tallapoosa, Carrollton, Mt. Zion and Buchanan, until 6:15 pm.

Earlier on Saturday, storms were beginning to develop across east Alabama, according to the National Weather Service, indicating the atmosphere is becoming more supportive for additional storms across northwest and west central Georgia over Saturday afternoon and into the evening.

Early Saturday morning was a loud and bumpy affair for everyone across north Georgia as severe thunderstorms moved southward from Tennessee.

Major threats from the second round of storms include heavy rainfall, vivid and frequent lightning, hail and brief, gusty winds.

In areas that have already received significant rainfall, the ground has become soft enough that during any of these strong storms, some trees could be easily knocked over.

Earlier in the day, strong to severe thunderstorms blew through north Georgia as a line from Tennessee southward.

Heavy rains, brief gusty winds, vivid lightning and small hail were enough to wake many people up across metro Atlanta. Downed trees and power lines were found in several counties, and there were homes hit by lightning in at least two counties - Cherokee and Gwinnett, but no major fires or injuries were reported.

Georgia Power said that at the storm's height, more than 45,000 customers were without power. In addition, officials in several counties, including Gilmer, Pickens, Cherokee and Gwinnett, reported downed trees and power lines.

Three houses in Cherokee County and two houses in Gwinnett County were reportedly struck by lightning, but officials said there were no significant fires and no injuries were reported.

11Alive's Christie Ethridge was able to take a look inside a Buford home that was hit by lightning after firefighters completed their work Saturday morning. The homeowners said they are glad they were home and able to call the fire department.

RELATED | Lightning blasts hole in roof of Buford home

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