South Augusta woman is killed in house fire

A 53-year-old south Augusta woman died in a house fire Saturday night.

Richmond County Chief Deputy Coroner Mark Bowen said Deborah Goodwin was found in the kitchen of her one-story home at 2810 Bradford Court. Firefighters received the call to the home at 6:08 p.m., he said. An autopsy will be conducted in Atlanta on Monday, Mr. Bowen said.

In Georgia, winds leave damage, cut power

A band of severe storms tore through the Augusta area Saturday leaving thousands without power, damaging homes and businesses and blocking dozens of roads with trees. No serious injuries were reported in the area.

POWER OUTAGES

At least 6,800 customers were without power in Richmond, Columbia, McDuffie and Burke counties, Georgia Power and Jefferson Energy said. Jefferson County residents also lost power, Wrens police said.

JEFFERSON COUNTY

Steeples of several churches were toppled and trees were blown onto houses. Despite the widespread damage, no injuries were reported initially, Wrens Police Chief David Hannah said.

"It's a mess," he said. "We got hit pretty hard. There's no way to know how long the cleanup will take. We are doing all we can to take care of our residents, but it is total chaos right now."

Emergency workers, including some from the Department of Natural Resources, Richmond County and the Georgia State Patrol, helped in the aftermath, Chief Hannah said. Columbia County deployed its Mobile Operations Center to serve as a command post.

COLUMBIA COUNTY

Workers cleared trees in the northern part of the county. A mobile home on Ray Owens Road was severely damaged, but there were no reports of injuries in the county, according to Martinez-Columbia Fire Department Battalion Chief Gary Thigpen.

At the Evans Stadium Cinemas, customers were asked to briefly evacuate the theaters and gather in a hallway while the storm passed.

MCDUFFIE COUNTY

At least two funnel-shaped clouds were reported being seen.

Players and spectators at a baseball game at Thomson High School took shelter in a gym because of sharp lightning and a tornado warning.

Several people reportedly were injured in a single-vehicle crash on Interstate 20 near the Columbia County line that was caused by wet roads. The extent of those injuries was not immediately known.