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 -- More than 400,000 Georgia customers lost power in the wake of Monday night's storm. After a massive effort involving crews from eight states, all but about 500 Metro Atlantans are back online.

The homes and businesses still in the dark were evenly split between Georgia Power and Georgia Electric Membership Corporation customers as of Thursday morning. Statewide, just over 4,600 were still without power.

Cleanup will take much longer. Wild winds late Monday and Tuesday morning snapped power poles and trees like twigs across the region.

At least nine people were killed by the storms that tore through the Southeast. Bright lightning, loud thunder and wind gusts above 60 miles per hour streaked through, dumping rain and hail across the region.