Not So Quiet After The Storm in Southwest Atlanta

Cascade Heights homeowner Rick Banks was away from his Lynfield Drive home late Monday night when wind gusts ripped a massive pine tree from his side lawn. But long-time neighbor Beverly Shanks wasn't; she heard it all.

"It was right around midnight and I just heard this loud boom," said Shanks who, like Banks, has lived on the street since the 1960s when they were schoolchildren at . "I knew it was a tree in someone's yard."

It turned out to be be the yard of across-the-street neighbor Banks, who was away on business. Not only was the pine uprooted, a mid-sized perennial was torn in half, as well.

"I hate that that one is gone," Banks said. "I always looked forward to it blooming for two weeks in the spring."

Banks was not alone in waking up to after-the-storm damage.

Tree limbs and debris left by a storm system that pounded the area late Monday were a common site in southwest Atlanta and across the city Tuesday.

Police spokeswoman Kimberly Maggart said no deaths had been reported in Zone 4, the main police district covering Cascade Patch, as of 2 p.m. The closest fatality, Maggert said, was at 8 a.m. this morning at Tilden and West Marietta streets where a man was killed when a tree fell on his moving car.

"The only thing I have ad come in is the accidential death on Tilden," Maggert said.

Atlanta Public Works officials spent the day responding to calls of down wires and debris and tree limbs in community parks, streets and sidewalks.

Sharon Davis, a spokeswoman for the city Department of Parks, Recrecation and Public Affairs, said three recreations centers were still closed Tuesday afternoon because of power outages, including the Grove Park Recreation Center, at 750 Frances St., located just north of I-20 and the northern boundary of the Cascade Patch area.

To report debris and trees on public right-of-way such as sidewalks, streets and parks, Davis said residents should call the Department of Parks and Recreation customer service line, 404-546-6813.

Authorities did not have specific southwest Atlanta power outage or damange reports but Georgia Power spokesman Jeff Wilson told the AJC this morning that about 70,000 metro Atlanta residents lost power during the storm and that all but 3,000 were still in the dark at 6 a.m. Tuesday.

To report a residential power outage go to the Georgia Power customer service page or call 1-888-891-0938.