Thunderstorms have many cringing

By Laura Ingram

 
LAWRENCEVILLE — More thunderstorms had Gwinnettians cringing Wednesday night at the lingering rumblings and frequent lightning strikes throughout the county.
Though the storms caused tornadoes, damaged homes, knocked out power and resulted in flooding in other affected areas, Gwinnett seemed to escape the worst by press time Wednesday except for more minor traffic accidents, according to police officials. Many high school sports games were canceled.
The same weather system brought a threat of serious flooding to Tennessee, where some Chattanooga residents were told to seek shelter from a Tennessee River expected to reach its highest level in the city in 30 years.
Storms that caused widespread damage in Mississippi moved into west Alabama at midmorning Wednesday, leaving roads in Lamar County covered with trees and water. Several dirt roads were washed out.
‘‘We did have reports of a funnel cloud, but we didn’t have any touch down,’’ said Ralph Harrison, that county’s emergency management director.
Officials dismissed about 800 elementary and high school students as the storm approached Carbon Hill, the Walker County town that was struck by a November outbreak of tornadoes that killed 12 people in Alabama.
During Tuesday’s storms, Gwinnett school officials evacuated all its students from portable classrooms and held dismissal until they felt it was safe enough for them to go home.
Alan Trotter, a Walker County assistant school superintendent, said all the students were in portable classrooms because of destruction from the 2002 tornado and an earlier fire.
‘‘The potential was here. We were just lucky nothing sat down,’’ Trotter said
The storms began their tirade earlier in Mississippi. A possible tornado damaged dozens of homes and other buildings in the northern counties of Chickasaw and Monroe.
Mississippi Gov. Ronnie Musgrove declared a state of emergency in the hardest-hit counties, making state resources available to local governments.
Amy Carruth, spokeswoman for the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency, said Wednesday’s storm had tracked across Chickasaw County about 10:30 a.m. before entering Monroe County — damaging as many as 80 structures.
‘‘We’re talking about damage to houses, trailers, trees and power lines,’’ said Monroe County Sheriff Ruble Maxey Jr.
Maxey said he had driven through the storm area northwest of Aberdeen and the damage appeared to have resulted from a ‘‘wall of wind and rain’’ rather than a tornado.
In Tennessee, officials estimated about 300 structures, some of them homes, could be flooded from a Tennessee River expected to reach 35 feet — 5 feet above flood stage — in Chattanooga.
Liz Foster, resident manager at Chattanooga’s Fountainbleau Apartments, said the rising waters of Chickamauga Creek prompted her to temporarily relocate residents of 64 downstairs apartments to motels.
‘‘We’ve been through this before,’’ Foster said. ‘‘Can I cry?’’
Tennessee has been getting soaked since Sunday, when a tornado that struck near the city of Jackson killed 11 people.
Associated Press contributed to this report.