The Top Weight Loss Clinic in North Canton, GA

Forecasters said the Northern lights sparked by solar storms might be visible in Tennessee or North Carolina, but there have been sightings across Georgia Friday night, as far south as Tybee Island.

Credit: Alex Sanz

The purple, red and green displays from the aurora borealis are the result of an unusually strong solar storm, according to The Associated Press. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a rare severe geomagnetic storm warning when a solar outburst reached Earth on Friday afternoon, hours sooner than anticipated. The effects were due to last through the weekend and possibly into next week.

“That’s really the gift from space weather — the aurora,” Rob Steenburgh, a scientist with NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center, told AP. He and his colleagues said the best aurora views may come from phone cameras, which are better at capturing light than the naked eye.

This is something that is rarely seen in Georgia.

Credit: Ron Sirmans

Here are more sightings of the night-sky show shared on social media:

Northern lights and a little lightening at Tybee Island GA @spann @WSAVAlysaC @StephanieAbrams pic.twitter.com/nVzlxFFISB

— maybe: Jay (@BA_Biggie) May 11, 2024

Northern Lights in Dawsonville, Georgia!! #gawx #aurora pic.twitter.com/gLtW3sV4bC

— Jacob Hamil (@jacobhamilwx) May 11, 2024

Full on show in #Macon now! Simply incredible. #gawx pic.twitter.com/S8bYAm1bMH

— Jeff Cox (@JeffCoxWBMA) May 11, 2024

Northern lights visible in #Savannah!! 3s exposure. #gawx pic.twitter.com/gkjcidlnAH

— Jeremy Nelson (@jnelsonWJCL) May 11, 2024

The show continues. So amazing! Naked eye visibility! North of Bainbridge and southeast of Colquitt, #Georgia. #GAwx #aurora #Auroraborealis @TamithaSkov pic.twitter.com/JK3wXqohtw

— Wright Dobbs (@WrightDobbs) May 11, 2024

T. D. Larson couldn't live in Portland, Oregon, anymore.

She was over the city's skyrocketing cost of living, high taxes, and declining population. She considered moving to Texas or Washington — where she briefly lived before — but decided to pack her bags and move 2,500 miles southeast to Canton, Georgia, a city of about 34,500 people roughly 40 miles north of Atlanta.

After about six months of research and planning, Larson — who asked to use the first initial of her first and middle names for privacy reasons — realized Canton would be the "upgrade" she wanted in her life. Larson, who works in public relations and is in her mid-50s, got an apartment in Canton for double the size for only a few hundred dollars more a month. She says the people are nicer, the cost of living is way down, and she feels safer as a Jewish resident.

"It took me a while to save up the money since it cost a lot to move here, and I'm digging out of some credit-card debt, but it's worth it," Larson said. "I sleep better at night. I'm not hearing racing cars or anything, even though I'm maybe a mile from the main road."

Census Bureau data from May indicates Portland experienced a population loss of 2.8% between 2020 and 2022, making it the sixth-fastest-shrinking city in the US. This city's population fell from 653,294 in 2020 to 635,067 in 2022.

Census Bureau estimates suggest that nearly 158,000 people moved away from Oregon between 2021 and 2022. Of those, about 1,600 moved to Georgia.

Leaving Portland behind

Larson was born and raised in Portland, though she often moved around for work. She spent a few years in Dallas, Houston, and Seattle, as well as some time in cities throughout Europe and Asia, though she moved back to Portland full time 11 years ago.

In 2014, she started working remotely for a small boutique firm, during which time she became more involved in local politics. She said she helped elect city officials to try and solve problems of homelessness, drug abuse, and mental health, though she said a lot of proposals were "disastrous." These issues became worse in the years leading up to and including the pandemic, she said.

The city "really took a dive" during the pandemic, she said, which "decimated businesses downtown," making the city lose much of its charm. Portland became "unlivable," she said, as rising rents and costs of daily purchases pushed people out of their homes and hurt middle-class residents. She also said she struggled to focus much of the time in Portland, as it was often very loud and chaotic in her area.

She knew she wanted to move to a more rural area or a smaller city where she'd feel more comfortable. Starting in 2020, she began saving as much as she could and began looking along the East Coast, near where her company has office buildings.

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She decided on the Atlanta area, where she knew some people from work, but she didn't want to live anywhere close to downtown. After some searching, she settled on Canton, which is almost an hour north via car.

"Maybe it's just because I'm getting older, but being a single gal, I just wanted to live in a safe place," she said. "I wanted to be somewhere quiet, and that's exactly what I have here."

Canton, Georgia: Pros and cons

Larson moved in June into a newer development in Canton that was double the size of her 800-square-foot, $ 1,400-a-month, two-bedroom apartment in Portland.

In Portland, she was paying nearly $200 a month for air conditioning, whereas her 1,800-square-foot, three-bedroom apartment in Canton is $1,900, and her electricity bill never goes above $140. Her Portland apartment had no dishwasher and no washer and dryer, while she has all those amenities in Georgia.

"I'm out in an area that has three sides of my complexes surrounded by forest, and the other side is the main road," Larson said. "I'm a little more than a mile away from the main drag, which has an AMC theater, has all the major chain restaurants and smaller ones, has groceries and craft stores, things like that."

She chose not to move to a suburb that's closer to Atlanta, such as Marietta or Kennesaw, which she said were growing fast and becoming more expensive. She knew Canton was becoming more built up but not nearly at the rate of other suburbs.

She's noticed that groceries are a bit cheaper than in Portland, and gas is also down — gas is $4.28 a gallon in Portland, compared with $3.07 in her county. The quality of groceries, she says, is slightly better in Georgia and also about 20% cheaper.

Larson also says that as a Jew, Canton is a safer place to exercise her religion. She says her current city is more accepting and respectful, and the people overall seem much happier and more positive.

Still, she says there's little public transportation in her area, coupled with a lack of sidewalks. Temperatures also are quite high in the summer months, she says.

Ultimately, though, she says she hopes to never return to living on the West Coast and wants Canton to become her permanent home.

"I left friends behind, but that's what social media and phone calls are for," Larson said. "It's not like I won't fly back to Portland to visit friends, but really my heart feels here."

Have you recently moved to a new state? Reach out to this reporter at [email protected].

The findings indicate that the region was hit by powerful winds from a downburst, causing widespread damage over a significant area.

CHEROKEE COUNTY, Ga. — Editor's note: The video above has previous coverage of the storm.

Damaging winds that went over 80 mph hit much of north Cherokee County on Thursday, according to an initial storm report released on Saturday by the National Weather Service.

The findings indicate that the region was hit by powerful winds from a downburst, causing widespread damage over a significant area.

According to the survey conducted on Saturday, the storms unleashed a barrage of high-speed winds, leaving a trail of destruction approximately 3.5 miles wide. Certain areas bore the brunt of more intense localized damage, highlighting the ferocity of the wind's force.

"Roof damage in the area (excluding damage caused by trees) was indicative of wind speeds over 80 mph, while tree damage was indicative of 90-95 mph," Sam Marlow, with the NWS.

That area of stronger winds stretched from roughly Highway 108 to Upper Burris Road in Canton, according to the NWS, with the epicenter of the damage around Dixon Road. The meteorologist surveying the area, Keith Stellman, said that even though the wind damage took the path of a straight line, there were smaller pockets intertwined within the larger area that could've been from a microburst or downburst or perhaps from an area of rotation.

The evaluation is still ongoing, and experts expect more information to be made available in the coming days as they continue to analyze the data.

Further surveys are planned on Saturday in South East Pickens and North Forsyth Counties, where authorities will gather additional data to assess the full extent of the damage caused by the high-speed winds.

The storms that swept through metro Atlanta were marked by their severity, fueled by soaring temperatures and humidity. Reports of damage poured in from various counties, with thousands of Georgia Power customers affected by power outages.

The Cherokee County Sheriff's Office shared a photo of the Clayton Food Store, showing the extent of the damage incurred during the turbulent weather at 9:30 p.m. on Thursday. Downed trees and power lines added to the chaos, leading to widespread power outages that persisted into Friday morning.

CANTON, N.C. (WLOS) — A small town in Western North Carolina, and surrounding areas, have been rocked by yet another earthquake -- the fifth one in just a couple weeks.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) reports a 3.2 magnitude earthquake occurred near Canton early Sunday morning, June 4, 2023.

'I'M STILL ANTSY,' HAYWOOD COUNTY RESIDENTS NERVOUS AFTER 4 EARTHQUAKES IN RECENT DAYS

The USGS reports the quake happened around 6:09 a.m. about 3 kilometers north of West Canton at a depth of about 2.9 kilometers.

This is the fifth and strongest quake in the Canton area over the span of less than two weeks. The USGS reports three other earthquakes have taken place in the time as well in the Tennessee/Kentucky area of the region.

MORE SHAKING! ANOTHER EARTHQUAKE RECORDED NEAR CANTON

Canton Mayor Zeb Smathers took to Twitter on Sunday, saying he would be asking the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality and North Carolina Geological Society "for an analysis of what is happening now and what we may expect."

Viewers have written to News 13, sharing where they felt the quake Sunday morning, from Canton, Clyde, Lake Junaluska, Waynesville, Leicester, Alexander and more areas.

Starting in 2021, an area of South Carolina began experiencing several earthquakes, one after the other, in what scientists have dubbed a "swarm" of earthquakes. This swarm centered around the Elgin area. The Associated Press reported scientists believed water seeping deep underground may have been causing the South Carolina earthquakes, adding that an initial earthquake may have allowed water from a nearby river to move into new cracks that opened then, setting off more quakes.

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Did you feel it? You can report your experience with the USGS HERE. At 9:30 a.m. Sunday, there were already over 400 responses.

Canton shoppers may soon have new options for Indian and Middle Eastern cuisine. Patel Brothers, a nationwide Indian grocery chain, is in talks with township officials to open a new location.

Opened in 1974 by brothers, the grocery chain owns more than 50 locations across the U.S. In Michigan. Patel Brothers operate four locations, in Ann Arbor, Troy, Farmington Hills and Garden City.

The company provides a variety of products meant to demonstrate the owners' cultural heritage and diversity across India, according to its website. The business began as Indian immigrants experienced a lack of access to Indian culinary products in the U.S., and the Patel family said they stepped in to fill that gap.

"We hope to continue to educate and expose new generations to the regional diversity of India and the richness of our culture and our food," the website states.

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Canton, a suburb west of Detroit, features a 19.5% Asian population, including a sizeable Indian American community, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The township features a variety of businesses catering to the community, including Indian grocers and restaurants, as well as cultural institutions.

A new addition may soon join these businesses, as Patel Brothers works with officials on its plan for a new store in Canton. The proposed location would be at 6130 North Canton Center, replacing a former Canton Computers store, now permanently closed. The current building would be demolished to make way for the new store.

The proposal to bring Patel Brothers to Canton began with an application presented to the Canton Planning Services Division, reviewed by the division, and then added to the Planning Commission agenda for a Nov. 14, 2022, special meeting.

The planning commission then took up the application as a new business item during its Jan. 11 meeting, according to the meeting agenda. Officials described the proposal and recommended changes, voting to move forward with the proposal.

The next steps include adjusting the plan's lighting, driveway traffic flow, landscaping, and exterior wall design in compliance with township ordinances, before bringing the proposal before the Canton Board of Trustees for approval. A timeline for the next steps in the process remains unclear.