Four guests were taken to a hospital after a tree fell near the entrance of Six Flags Over Georgia during severe weather on Sunday, the park told Fox News Digital, ending what had been billed as the final night of its holiday-week celebration with a weather emergency instead of fireworks.
Six Flags Over Georgia sits in Austell, southwest of Atlanta, on Riverside Parkway SW. The storm moved through the area Sunday evening as the park was running Star-Spangled Nights, the named Fourth of July event the venue advertised for July 3-5. Park-goer Charles Smith told WSB-TV’s Channel 2 that he and his wife had been waiting to see fireworks when the storm pushed in.
Four Guests Were Taken to Hospital, the Park Says
Six Flags Over Georgia issued a brief statement through the park’s communications team. “During severe weather that was impacting the park, medical staff and local EMS responded to four guests who were struck by a fallen tree near the park’s entrance,” the park said in a statement shared with Fox News Digital. “The guests were transported to a local hospital for further evaluation.” The park did not describe how the four came to be in the path of the tree, and it did not list their conditions.
First responders treated the injured on scene before transport, according to officials quoted by FOX 5 Atlanta. People magazine, citing 11Alive, reported that two of the four suffered serious injuries, a figure consistent with the storm damage report logged by the National Weather Service in Peachtree City that recorded “2 INJ” at Six Flags Over Georgia at 5:55 p.m. CDT. Park officials have not released the current medical conditions or identities of the four hospitalized guests.
Photographers from local TV stations arrived to find fire trucks, ambulances, and other emergency vehicles lining the entrance to the park as first responders worked near several downed trees and large branches. The mood that a Facebook user described as “a relaxing day at Six Flags” had shifted within minutes, the user wrote, after the tree came down near the exit walkway as guests were leaving the park.
Four guests transported to a hospital by the park’s medical staff and local EMS.
Two of the four reported to have suffered serious injuries, per 11Alive via People.
6:40 PM EDT – severe thunderstorm warning issued for the park area by NWS Peachtree City.
7:15 PM EDT – severe thunderstorm warning expired on schedule.
60 mph – radar-indicated maximum wind gust in the warning text.
The 35-Minute Warning That Covered the Park
The National Weather Service in Peachtree City had issued a severe thunderstorm warning at 6:40 PM EDT on Sunday, July 5, running for 35 minutes until 7:15 PM EDT, covering Six Flags Over Georgia and sixteen other locations. The bulletin, posted in full by the agency’s Peachtree City office, listed the storm hazards as 60 mph wind gusts and penny-size hail, radar-indicated, and warned of “expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees,” in language lifted directly from the NWS severe thunderstorm warning text.
The storm was located over Sweetwater Creek State Park at 6:40 PM EDT and was moving north at 25 mph. The counties named in the warning were southern Cobb County, northeastern Douglas County, and southwestern Fulton County. The rest of the impacted location list ran through Atlanta, Douglasville, City of South Fulton, Smyrna, East Point, Powder Springs, Austell, Lithia Springs, Sweetwater Creek State Park, Chapel Hill, Bankhead, Six Flags Over Georgia, Cascade Heights, Campbellton, Bolton, Sandtown, and Mableton. Residents in the warning zone were advised to move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a building for protection.
| NWS Bulletin Field | Six Flags Over Georgia Coverage |
|---|---|
| Warning type | Severe Thunderstorm Warning |
| Issuing office | National Weather Service Peachtree City |
| Counties | Southern Cobb, northeastern Douglas, southwestern Fulton |
| Hazards | 60 mph wind gusts and penny-size hail (radar-indicated) |
| Storm track | Near Sweetwater Creek State Park, moving north at 25 mph |
| Impact statement | Expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees |
“Almost Like a Little Tornado Come Through”
Charles Smith and his wife were inside the park when the storm rolled in. The couple had been waiting to see the holiday fireworks before lightning and wind cut the evening short. The scene Smith described to WSB-TV‘s Channel 2, captured in his own words as he stood in the wreckage area, captures how fast the storm pushed through the entrance plaza.
It was almost like a little tornado come through. No one really had any time to react because it all happened so fast.
Smith, a park-goer, spoke to the station after first responders had begun their work at the scene. He described the immediate aftermath as he had seen it: a young woman on the ground, a man with scrapes on his back. The remarks aired on WSB-TV, the Atlanta-market local station that was first on the scene and continues to cover the holiday-week fallout.
The Mindbender Question the Park Hasn’t Answered
The tree that struck the four guests near the entrance did not stay there. Posts shared on Reddit appeared to capture a large tree down across part of the park, with users claiming it came to rest on the track of the Mindbender roller coaster.
A Reddit user quoted by Fox News Digital wrote that “It didn’t look like the track was bent. But it was a thick tree, so I couldn’t tell if anything was broken.” Six Flags has not confirmed whether any attractions were damaged or whether park operations were affected, leaving a thin public record on a question that matters for guests watching the calendar. FOX 5 Atlanta‘s local report on what the initial local reports first detailed about the scene ran with the same caveat from the park.
The operational gaps showing at the park match the weather office’s impact language. The NWS bulletin warned of damage to roofs, siding, and trees across the warning zone, and the storm was moving fast enough at 25 mph to cover streets and walkways between one thunderstorm watch segment and the next. The early Sunday hours had already knocked out power to “a high of more than 7,000 customers,” mostly in Fulton, DeKalb, and Gwinnett counties, Atlanta News First reported.
- The current medical conditions of the four hospitalized guests have not been released.
- The identities of the four have not been released.
- Six Flags has not confirmed any damage to rides, including the Mindbender track, or whether Sunday operating hours were adjusted.
Star-Spangled Nights Ended With a Weather Call
Star-Spangled Nights was the holiday-week event the park had built the weekend around. The run ran July 3 to July 5, 2026, and the venue’s event page billed it as “Atlanta’s most breathtaking 4th of July celebration,” with fireworks each night after a day of coasters and Hurricane Harbor.
The same Star-Spangled Nights event page carried a weather caveat of its own. “Fireworks and other special events and entertainment are scheduled for specific durations and times; all entertainment during Star-Spangled Nights presented by M&M’S® is weather permitting and subject to change,” the page reads. “Select rides may be scheduled to close early in preparation for the fireworks.” The page’s VIP Fireworks Party package, billed for July 4-5, was the event the Smiths had been waiting on before the wind picked up. Guests showed up to a finale that the weather office had warned about 35 minutes before the tree fell.
Across metro Atlanta, the same overnight-to-evening storm system pushed through twice. Atlanta News First reported “a high of more than 7,000 customers without power early Sunday across Fulton, DeKalb, and Gwinnett counties,” with the total dwindling into the hundreds by Sunday afternoon. A second round hit Sunday evening after the first round had already knocked out service to thousands. Six Flags Over Georgia has not issued a public damage report or a statement on Sunday operating hours.
What Is Still Unknown
Four questions remain open for visitors and readers.
How many people were hurt at Six Flags Over Georgia on Sunday?
Six Flags Over Georgia confirmed four guests were transported to a hospital after being struck by the tree near the park’s entrance. 11Alive reported, via People, that two of the four suffered serious injuries. Park officials have not released the current medical conditions of any of the four.
When was the severe thunderstorm warning in the Six Flags area?
The NWS Peachtree City severe thunderstorm warning ran from 6:40 PM EDT to 7:15 PM EDT on Sunday, July 5, 2026.
What weather hazards did the warning forecast?
The warning called for 60 mph wind gusts and penny-size hail, radar-indicated, with a damage statement reading “expect damage to roofs, siding, and trees.” Six Flags Over Georgia was named among the locations in the path.
Has Six Flags Over Georgia confirmed damage to its rides?
No. Six Flags has not confirmed damage to any rides, including a tree reported on the Mindbender track, and has not stated whether Sunday operating hours were adjusted or what the Monday schedule looks like.
