Authorities say large hail, damaging winds, heavy rainfall and tornadoes are possible today as forecasts indicate a significant severe weather event in Carroll County.

A flood watch was issued by the National Weather Service for Carroll County until late tonight.

Carroll County Fire and Rescue Chief Gary Thomas said more than two inches of rain had already fallen in the county this week by Friday morning, and more heavy rainfall was expected to continue today.

Thomas said a strong cold front coming out of Alabama with moderate to strong instability and wind shear create conditions favorable to all facets of severe weather today -- including tornadoes and hail.

Fire officials met with officials from the weather service Thursday to discuss this weekend’s severe weather forecast, which indicated today showed the greatest potential for isolated tornadoes and thunderstorms capable of producing damaging winds.

Thomas said the continuous rainfall since Wednesday has saturated the ground, leaving the root system of large trees in the county vulnerable to collapsing.

“We’ve already had a few inches of rain by Friday, and high winds Saturday could knock over large trees since the ground won’t hold the roots well,” he said. “We are going to be monitoring the weather all weekend.”

The low pressure cold front is expected to stall out as it moves into West Georgia, and those disturbances “create the necessary ingredients to keep forming storms,” Thomas said.

No major issues with flooding in the area were reported Friday as the rain continued to come down.

Thomas said if severe weather does hit the area, residents should be alert and monitor conditions using a weather radio or through media reports. If the weather service issues a “watch,” people are reminded conditions are favorable for that event and a “warning” indicates the weather event -- such as a tornado -- was confirmed by public safety observers or radar systems.

“If we do have severe weather or a tornado warning issued, people should get inside a strong structure and go to the basement or, in the minimum, an interior room and avoid windows,” he said.

One thing people should not do after hearing weather sirens sound is call 911 to ask for more information on the weather.

“We’ve had this happen a lot,” he said. “If a warning has been issued and you hear the weather sirens, go to your weather radio for more information. We need to reserve the 911 lines for emergencies, and need people not to call asking for information.”