Fast-moving storms cause damage in Alabama, Georgia


Trees and power lines were knocked down and dozens of homes destroyed after high winds swept through parts of Alabama on Friday

FOREST PARK, Georgia (CNN) -- A fast-moving storm swept into Georgia Friday, delaying flights into Atlanta's busy Hartsfield Airport, after inflicting property damage and causing blackouts in Alabama's capital city.

In Forest Park, just outside Atlanta, several fast-food restaurants, cars and other businesses were damaged by high winds and flying debris -- possibly a tornado.

As many as 10 people were taken to the hospital, said Forest Park police Captain Alex Squire. Gas and power lines in the area were also down. A spokesman from Georgia Power, Mike Tyndall, told CNN about 3,000 homes in metro Atlanta lost power but he expected lights to be back on by this evening.

At Hartsfield, arriving flights were delayed an average 90 minutes because of the severe weather, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

A National Weather Service spotter reported that a tornado touched down 10 miles southwest of Butler, Georgia, earlier Friday.

The spotter said the tornado had touched down at 12:39 p.m. No other details were available. Local television stations said there was an unconfimred report of a fatality related to the storm in Clayton County, Georgia, according to CNN Meteorologist Orelon Sidney.

The same storm system may have produced a tornado in Montgomery, Alabama, Friday morning, ripping off rooftops, flipping a delivery truck, injuring dozens of people and knocking out power to at least 16,000 homes and businesses.

Tornado warnings were in effect when the storm struck residential and business areas northeast of Montgomery's downtown area, but weather officials said they could not yet determine whether the storm included a tornado.

Tornado warnings were also in effect for northern parts of Florida on Friday.

Montgomery's Emergency Management Director, Anita Patterson, told CNN said 20 to 30 homes and businesses suffered significant structural damage -- smashed by trees or slashed by strong winds.

Patterson said all reported injuries so far have been minor. A truck was overturned by high winds but the driver escaped relatively unhurt.

A spokeswoman for Alabama Power, Jan Ellis, told CNN the company expects to restore power to thousands of homes by Friday evening. After the storm passed, all available crews were working to restore electricity, Ellis said.

Ellis said the outages were caused by trees falling on power lines, wires on the ground and broken power poles.

The National Weather Service warned residents to take appropriate precautions and said in a statement: "Act quickly! If you are in the path of this tornado move to a shelter below ground if available. Otherwise go to a small room on the lowest floor."