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High winds follow rain
Topple trees onto house, power lines
wind WEB 1
Cumming Police officer Joe Harris blocks a lane of East Maple Street on Tuesday after the top of a tree was blown into the road. - photo by Jim Dean
A fast-charging cold front packing rain and high winds toppled trees across Forsyth County and reminded residents that winter’s not over.The area experienced wind gusts up to 40 mph Tuesday night and nearly 35 mph Wednesday, said Mike Leary of the National Weather Service office in Peachtree City.Snow flurries were reported throughout the metro Atlanta region, but didn’t result in any accumulations, Leary said.Overnight snow in the north Georgia mountains created some road hazards and led to school closings in nearby Dawson and Lumpkin counties. The Forsyth County Fire Department responded to six reports of trees or power lines down, likely as a result of the high winds, said Division Chief Jason Shivers.Four of the incidents — including a tree falling on a house in Brentwood Estates in south Forsyth — occurred “during the height of the storm” that arrived in the late afternoon Tuesday, he said.“There was actually very little damage [to the house],” Shivers said. “It did puncture the roof slightly and cause some rainwater to get into the attic.”No one was injured, and the home was sealed up, he said.Firefighters also handled three issues involving power lines, including a downed power pole on Allen Street at about the same time the tree fell on the house.The wind gusts were likely the reason for the toppled trees and lines, Shivers said, but recent rains may have also contributed.“The ground is already saturated because we’ve had so much rain in the last couple of months,” he said.