Atlanta - Fast-moving spring storms packing high winds, hail and lightning blew through the Southeast, uprooting trees, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands and leaving at least seven people dead.

The strongest storms walloping the region carried with them dangerous wind gusts and the possibility of isolated tornadoes.

More than 125,000 people were without power early Tuesday around Atlanta and 147,000 across Georgia, according to Georgia Power.

The storms were moving across the Carolinas early Tuesday, knocking down trees and causing power outages.

Forecasters predicted the storms would move off the coast by mid-morning but that they would linger over central and southern Florida.

The Weather Channel also said a line of thunderstorms was heading to large parts of the mid-Atlantic region, from New Jersey to Virginia, where there was also the possibility of damaging winds and isolated tornadoes in the strongest sections of the storm.


Based on annual summaries compiled by The National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center, it appeared that the storms spawned the most reports of severe weather - 970 - in a 24-hour period since April 2006.

In Jackson, Ga., a father and 4-year-old son were killed when a tree fell onto their home.

The child's mother, Marcie Moorer, and the couple's younger son, Isaac, 3, were able to escape.

Moorer's stepfather, Bennie Battle, said he was down the street from the couple's home as the storm tore through.

"It was just a lot of wind and lightning," he said. "It was like being in the middle of a laser show."

He heard a knock on the door at the height of the storm. It was a neighbor coming to tell him that a tree had crashed onto his stepdaughter's home.

Alix Bonhomme "was holding his son in his arms when it happened," Battle said. "He was trying to protect his son."

Jackson Mayor Charlie Brown said the storm's devastation was the worst the community had seen in 30 or 40 years.

"I would say weeks, a minimum of weeks for us to be able to clean up our community," Brown said.

Death toll rises

Another person was killed in Dodge County, Georgia Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Lisa Janak said. Janak didn't know the circumstances of that death but said a possible tornado was reported there.

A death was also reported in Colquitt County, Janak said.

"Damage reports are coming in and I'm sure more will come in when daylight comes," Janak said early Tuesday.

In northwest Atlanta, a man was killed when a tree fell on his car, according to Atlanta police.

About 20 possible tornadoes were reported around the region, according to the National Weather Service.

In Memphis, fire officials said an 87-year-old man found dead in his home Monday was electrocuted by a downed power line.

In southern Mississippi, a 21-year-old man was killed when his car struck a tree that had fallen across a road.

'We're fortunate'

In western Kentucky, seven people working at a plant suffered minor injuries Monday when a possible tornado hit.

Christian County Emergency Management Director Randy Graham said about three dozen people who usually work in the plant were at the other end of the building for their lunch break when it hit.

"We're fortunate not to have any serious injuries or death," he said. The county is seeking a disaster declaration based on the damage at the plant. He said about 120 to 130 people were there when a front wall partially collapsed and a side wall and roof were torn out.

Strong winds ripped away part of the roof of an elementary school gymnasium in Ashland City, Tenn., but officials said no children were injured.

Most of the storm damage in Tennessee was caused by high winds, according to the National Weather Service.

Winds gusting to about 50 mph blew down trees and power lines across north Alabama before heading to Georgia. The National Weather Service recorded wind gusts up to 49 mph at the Huntsville, Ala., airport.

In DeKalb County east of Atlanta, meteorologists report 1-inch hail and storms packed high winds of 30 to 50 mph in some places Monday. Hundreds of lightning strikes were reported.

The storms came on the heels of the 37th anniversary of the worst recorded outbreak of tornadoes in U.S. history, in which 148 twisters hit 13 states across the South and Midwest on April 3-4 in 1974.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.