ATLANTA FOLLOW UP
At least 12 tornadoes tore through Georgia
Governor declares state of emergency in 4 counties; damage estimate at $25M
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Friday, February 20, 2009
At least a dozen tornadoes touched down during the storms that raked the state on Wednesday and early Thursday, according to preliminary assessments by the National Weather Service. That’s the worst outbreak of twisters since last May.
Gov. Sonny Perdue has declared a state of emergency in four counties hit by tornadoes and thunderstorms. The state will send help to Hancock, Jasper, Thomas and Warren counties to remove downed trees, clear blocked roads and clean debris from houses, Perdue said in a release. The state of emergency will last for 10 days.
JOHN SPINK / jspink@ajc.com
Gregg Sellers stands outside his destroyed home in Moreland, where storms Wednesday ripped the wall off his 9-year-old daughter’s bedroom. He, his wife and twin girls rode out the storm in a first-floor bathroom. They moved into the new home three months ago.
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The storms caused one death and 22 injuries across the state, according to the governor’s office. “We extend our thoughts and prayers to the family of the deceased and to those who were hurt,” Perdue said.
Georgia Insurance and Fire Safety Commissioner John Oxendine estimated the storms caused at least $25 million in insured damage across the state.
One insurance company alone, State Farm, said it expects to see as many as 750 claims from homeowners and businesses and as many as 1,000 claims for damaged vehicles.
The strongest storm tore a 16-mile path through Wilkes and Lincoln counties in east central Georgia and packed winds estimated at 166 mph.
The half-mile wide twister “completely demolished” a cinder block home, tossing cinder blocks a half-mile, the Weather Service said. Fifteen other homes sustained moderate to major damage, and 19 outbuildings were destroyed.
The only fatality was reported in Hancock County, northeast of Macon, where a church and four mobile homes were destroyed in the Hickory Grove community. That tornado, with winds estimated at 140 mph, injured three other people and left a path of destruction eight miles long and 500 yards wide that continued from Hancock into Warren County.
The Weather Service said a mile-wide tornado that touched down with 120 mph winds in Meriwether County was on the ground for 20 miles through southern Coweta County into Spalding County. The roof was blown completely off one house, several other homes sustained minor to moderate damage and a horse was killed by flying debris.
At least one person was injured by debris as a tornado ripped a five-mile, 3/4-mile wide path through Putnam County, destroying a restaurant on the southwest side of Eatonton. U.S. Highway 129 was shut down after 110 mph winds downed power lines, the Weather Service said.
Two different tornadoes caused damage in Jasper County, each with winds of 100 mph. One was on the ground for seven miles, the other for three miles.
In Newton County, 20 to 30 homes in a heavily-wooded subdivision were damaged by trees blown down by a tornado that was on the ground for about two miles, with winds of 100 mph.
Other tornadoes, with winds ranging from 70 to 90 mph, were confirmed by the Weather Service in Taylor, Houston and Oconee counties.
After moving into south Georgia, the weather system spawned two tornadoes during the early-morning hours Thursday near Thomasville and Valdosta.
The strongest of those twisters had winds of 125 mph and hopscotched across about 20 miles of Grady and Thomas counties. More than two dozen homes were destroyed, and two air conditioning units were blown from the roof of Southwest Georgia State Hospital.
The outbreak was apparently the worst in the state since last May, when Mother’s Day storms spawned 19 tornadoes across Georgia.
— The Associated Press contributed to this report.
