A thunderstorm that blew through Hall County Wednesday night downed trees, knocked out power and damaged a couple of buildings, officials said.

The storm that passed through about 6:30 p.m. hit the Clermont area with straight-line winds, knocking down several trees and branches, said Hall County Fire Chief David Kimbrell, also the county’s emergency management director.

Areas where trees were toppled included Main Street in Clermont, Shoal Creek Road, Latham Drive, Cleveland Highway at Hub Head Road, Concord Church Road and Oxford Road, Kimbrell said.

A house on Latham Drive had a tree fall on its porch, he said, and an outbuilding on Shoal Creek was blown down. 

Fork Road off Lynncliff Drive was shut down for a short time due to phone lines down, Kimbrell said.

As of  late evening, about 1,800 customers of Jackson EMC were without power, including 323 in Hall County, Jackson EMC spokeswoman Bonnie Jones said. A combined 742 customers didn't have electricity in Jackson, Barrow and Banks  counties.

At the height of the storm, the cooperative had around 10,000 customers without power, and Gwinnett County was most severely affected, she said.

Georgia Power reported about 60 Hall customers without power late Wednesday.