On dead in overnight storms (updated 6PM)

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At least one person died after severe storms cut a swath through Georgia, downing trees and damaging homes and businesses in multiple counties.

Lisa Janak with the Georgia Emergency Management Agency said one person died in Laurens, downgrading an earlier report of two fatalities.

Authorities had reported a second fatality in Kite earlier today. The status of the second reported fatality is unclear as of this posting.

Janek said 19 counties were affected, as of Sunday at 1 PM.

Macon Mayor Robert Reichert, declared a state of emergency in the city on Sunday at 09:40, and asked residents to stay home and off the streets. He said the majority of the damage was in the southern and western areas of the city, and asked residents to avoid those areas.

"The federal government will be moving hard to help," President Bush said in response to the storm damage. "I'll be in touch with the governors and offer all of the federal assistance we can."

Click here for more on that story.

The National Weather Service reports numerous cases of damage to homes, business and other structures in several counties from overnight storms. There were many reports of downed power lines and trees, as well.

At least 80,000 residents were without electricity across the state, as of Sunday morning, mostly concentrated in the metro Atlanta area and the Macon area, according to Georgia Power officials.

(with the Associated Press)