Tornadoes Weave Paths of Death and Destruction Across South

The death toll from a line of severe thunderstorms which spawned tornadoes that demolished portions of five states has climbed to 194, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.  Nearly a dozen were Georgia residents, the newspaper reported Thursday.  Those numbers were likely to rise throughout the day in Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Virginia, and Georgia, officials said.

By Wednesday night, Gov. Nathan Deal had declared a state of emergency in Catoosa, Floyd, Dade and Walker counties, and that number was expected to grow higher by Thursday. UPDATE: Gov. Deal has expanded the list to include 16 counties.  See the attached executive order.

Fox 5 News has photo galleries that depict the devastation caused by the storms.

Oconee County and its neighbors fared well compared to other areas of the state and country.

Madison was hit hard, according to the Greene County Sheriff's Office.  Authorities added that there were downed trees and power lines Fraizer Copelan Road.

Georgia Power reported 52,000 outages across Georgia at 8 a.m., but there were not many locally.

had similar news.

"Most of our territory unaffected by storms except an area below I-20 in Morgan County. Heavy damage with several broken poles. About 300 outages at present," Walton EMC posted on Facebook shortly before 9 a.m.

The did not respond to any weather-related calls overnight, Deputy Emergency Management Director Mark Melvin said.

"We were lucky," he added.

Chief Lee O'Dillon said the city was much more fortunate than most.

"We dodged a bullet," he said. "We only had reports of scattered debris and small downed limbs."

The said on Facebook that it has been in contact with other sheriff's offices in the region and was ready to assist as needed.

-Editor Stephanie Gross contributed to this report.