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Storm's toll now up to 8 across Southeast
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JACKSON, Ga. (AP) - An eighth death is being blamed on severe storms that swept through the South.

Emergency officials say an unidentified Irwin County, Ga., man was killed when a tree struck his home. There have been five other storm-related deaths in Georgia and one each in Mississippi and Tennessee.

The National Weather Service has confirmed several of the nearly two-dozen possible tornadoes it's investigating around the South. The system that passed through on Monday and early Tuesday also knocked out power to hundreds of thousands had moved over the Atlantic Ocean by late morning.

Earlier story:

ATLANTA — At least six people have been killed in the South as fast-moving spring storms packing high winds, hail and lightning blew through the region, uprooting trees and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands including in metro Atlanta.

In Butts County in central Georgia, a father and son were killed when a tree fell onto a home, the Georgia Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Lisa Janak said.

Another person was killed in Dodge County, Janak said. Janak didn't know the circumstances of that death but said there had been a possible tornado 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.

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, Copiah County coroner Ellis Stuart said.

The storms were moving across the Carolinas early Tuesday, knocking down trees and causing power outages. Power outages were also reported Tuesday in states farther north, including Maryland, Delaware, Virginia and West Virginia.

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 area of the Toyoda Gosei Automotive Sealing Kentucky that was struck by the storm 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 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 eastern 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 on Monday. 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.

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