ATLANTA -- Thousands of Metro Atlantans spent part of the weekend without power after severe thunderstorms pounded portions of North Georgia Friday. This same system has claimed at least 44 lives moving across the Southeast.

The storms weakened as they crossed into the Peach State and did less damage than the storms that slammed Metro Atlanta two weeks ago, but they still knocked down trees and power lines across the region.

About 1,800 Georgia Power customers were still without power Sunday morning in the Rome and Cedartown areas, which were hardest hit by the storms. Georgia Power said restorations were expected by 1 p.m. Georgia EMC reported no outages.

ATLANTA -- Gov. Nathan Deal tells 11Alive News that he intends to sign the illegal immigration bill now on his desk. The bill, which has been compared to Arizona-style immigration reform, passed with just hours left in the final day of the General Assembly's legislative session.

Deal supported tough immigration measures in Congress and campaigned on the issue in the governor's race, but refrained from commenting on the legislation while it was still pending.

Deal said he hopes Georgia and other states that are enacting similar legislation will help spur Congress to take action nationally.

He said he and his staff have studied the legislation as it progressed, and they said they feel it will pass legal muster.

ATLANTA -- Monday night's fast-moving storms weren't nearly as bad as what we saw a week ago, but people in parts of North Georgia are again cleaning up damage.