UPDATED Thursday at 11:50 a.m.

Photo by Gary Connor

A late afternoon hailstorm swiped through Fayette County Wednesday damaging a number of homes and automobiles.

A possible tornado touchdown was reported in south Coweta County between Moreland and Luthersville near the Meriwether County line. A tractor trailer was overturned, trees and power lines fell and several homes were damaged, according to the Georgia Emergency Management Agency.

The hardest hit areas in Fayette struck by hail were around the Fayette Pavilion, downtown Tyrone and County Line Road near the 911 center, which was also pelted with hail but never lost service, said county emergency management coordinator Capt. Pete Nelms.

The hail was so voluminous in Tyrone that it covered a section of Ga. Highway 74 and completely halted traffic. The hail also damaged skylights at Sandy Creek High School and Flat Rock Middle School.

Several bloggers reported that hail up to grapefruit size caused heavy damage to autos, in some cases busting out windshields. One blogger who lives outside Tyrone near Line Creek reported that the hail damaged a car windshield, tore through the roof of a convertible and dented siding on the home.

Another blogger reported that the hail barrage in the Barnes and Noble area lasted roughly 15 minutes with some of it as large as grapefruit.

In the span of an hour and 45 minutes, Fayette endured two different tornado warnings, a severe thunderstorm warning and a significant weather alert, Nelms said.

Fayette's weather warning sirens sounded alerts before 9 p.m. in advance of thunderstorms hitting the area while the county was under a tornado warning.

Also just before 9 p.m. the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for a storm heading towards the Brooks area. The watch expired after 9:12 p.m.

The earlier storm caused a power loss at several stop lights in the county including one at Ga. Highway 54 and Carriage Oaks and Ga. Highway 74 at Jenkins Road.

Fayette County 911 was flooded with calls during and immediately after the storm, many from homeowners with damaged property or burglar alarms set off by a loss of power.

Other storm damage reports from GEMA include:

Jasper County :
High winds or tornado. Numerous trees down over roadways, especially in north end of county. Hwy 16, Hwy 11 and Hwy 142 being cleared w/ help of Forestry and GDOT. As of 2300 hours, still unable to reach much of north end of county for damage assessment, but believed approximately 100 homes affected in some manner, with likely heavy damage to at least several. Widespread power outages but being restored. EMA will report further as access is gained.

Putnam County:
Tornado or straight line winds damage. 8 to 10 homes believed to have moderate damage. One injury to older female (back injury). Numerous power outages.

Spalding:
Report of tornado touch down in eastern part of the county. Reported four homes with major damage and 12 with minor damage. Reported two injuries. Greg Stewart responded to Spalding County.

Gwinnett:
Firefighters responded to a few minor reports of power lines down in the Northern portion (Buford/Hamilton Mill) and the southwest portion (Snellville/Stone Mountain) of the county. A couple of trees and a few power lines down around Five Forks Rd. No widespread damage, no injuries.

Taylor:
Trees down with several roadways blocked near the Crossroads community, no structural damage reported at this time. No assistance requested at this time.

Henry:
One tree collapse through roof and wall of house. Moderate damage. ( 87 Church Street, McDonough). One roof structure blown off building into road- commercial building. No injuries.

Fulton:
Golf Ball Hail in S. Fulton (Chattahoochee Hills). Tree Damage in N. Fulton (Milton). Tree Damage in S. Fulton (Palmetto & Chattahoochee Hills). Atlanta Airport reporting three hour delays due to weather.
Wilkes:
One home destroyed, three moderate damage, one chicken house destroyed.

Grady:
Reports a few homes damaged, trees down and power outages. Damage assessment will continue at daybreak. No requests for assistance.

Thomas:
The Shelter is at 514 N. Madison Street is being moved the Dawson Street Baptist Church at 0800. There are 17 people in the shelter at this time. All City and County Schools are open today. A private school, Brookwood, is closed today. Damage assessment teams began their assessment at 0700. All State routes are open and all major roadways are open. Some secondary roads still have trees across them and Thomas County Public Works is working to clear those. There are still about 3600 people without power at this time. There were approximately 10 minor injuries with 3 transported to the hospital. No life threatening injuries. Southwestern State Mental Hospital has received some damages but all of the patients were moved to other facilities on the campus. No damages to the local hospital. All Emergency Services are fully functional and no interruption of communications systems.

Hancock:
Reported a tornado touchdown with several homes damaged three injuries and one fatality. Assistance requested, Gordon Lowe to assist with determining what assistance is needed.

Morgan:
Reports trees down in the northern area of the county. Full assessment underway. No injuries reported at this time. No requests for assistance.