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Public Information Statement
Statement as of 10:30 PM EDT on May 11, 2008
... Preliminary report on severe weather event which occurred during the early morning hours of may 11 2008...
Several damage survey teams from the National Weather Service office in Peachtree City have now confirmed that at least five tornadoes affected west central... north central... and central Georgia early this morning. Here is the information we have so far.
Note... location of tornado no. 5... Laurens County... corrected from southwest to northwest of Dublin.
Tornadoes no. 1 and 2 (rated ef2): Carroll and Douglas counties/410 am EDT...
Widespread 25-mile long path of damage... up to three miles wide at some spots... beginning in western Carroll County at approximately 410 am... starting along west Jonesville Road off Georgia Highway 166... just north of Bowden... continuing eastward roughly along Georgia Highway 166 through Carrollton and eastward into western Douglas County near Fairplay. There were two brief EF2 tornado spinups along this path of damage... which was up to three miles wide at points. The path length and width of each of these tornadoes was 100 yards or less. Maximum wind speeds within these tornadoes were estimated at 110 mph. The first EF2 tornado spinup occurred within the the community of Jonesville approximately two miles east of where the wind damage commenced. The roofs were completely blown off two homes and numerous trees were down in the area. The second EF2 tornado spinup occurred near Diamond court subdivision... off Cross Plains Hulett Road. Damage here consisted of two homes with significant damage... one completely destroyed... and a number of homes with minor to moderate roof damage.
Outside the two EF2 tornadoes... widespread tree and roof damage from straight-line winds was noted all along Georgia Highway 166 from west of Carrollton... near Bowden... eastward to western Douglas County near Fairplay. The Carrollton County emergency services facility sustained moderate damage. Damage continued eastward along Georgia Highway 166 toward the Douglas County line... mainly in the form of downed trees and minor roof damage all along the path. At various locations along this path... damage extended up to three miles to the south... but this was determined to be straight-line wind damage.
The damage from this straight-line wind event... and possible additional spinup tornadoes..may well have continued into South Fulton County. In addition... this parent thunderstorm appears to be the same one that spawned the EF2 tornado in Clayton County. This will be determined with additional surveys early this week.
Tornado no. 3 (rated ef2): Clayton... Henry... Rockdale and Newton counties/510 am EDT...
Initial touchdown was in extreme northeast Clayton County near the Henry County line just east of Interstate 675 around 510 am. On initial touch down... it took the second floor off a house and did significant damage to other homes in that area. This tornado lifted shortly after moving east into Henry County and did sporadic tree damage. As it moved into Rockdale County... it moved southeast toward Union Springs and then into Newton County near Highway 20 where it lifted. The approximate strength was EF2 (120 to 130 mph) at touchdown... then diminished to an EF0 for the remainder of the track. The approximate width was around 100 yards wide and total path length was about 13 miles long.
Tornado no. 4 (rated ef2): Bibb and Twiggs counties/550 am EDT...
Initial touchdown was near Lizella. The tornado tracked east and lifted near Dry Branch in Twiggs County. This was not a continuous path... but it did produce sporadic damage from Lizella to Dry Branch. The most significant damage was in the city of Macon with the hardest hit areas along eisenhower parkway an poinono Avenue where 2 businesses were destroyed and several others sustaining heavy damage. Macon State College was also hit by the tornado putting down nearly 50 percent of the trees and doing significant damage to several buildings on Campus with the gymnasium sustaining the worst damage. This tornado varied from an EF0 to EF2 with the EF2 (130 mph) along eisenhower parkway.
Tornado no. 5 (rated ef2): Laurens County/636 am EDT...
*** one death... one critical injury... two non-critical injuries ***
Initial touchdown occurred at the intersection of Macon Road and Oscar Road as an EF0... the tornado continued on an almost due eastward track and strengthened to an EF2 tornado as it crossed U.S. Highway 441 in the 2700 block... about seven miles northwest of Dublin... near the intersection of Evergreen Road and U.S. Highway 441. A double-wide Mobile home was destroyed at 2731 U.S. Highway 441... where a male in his early 50s was killed. His wife remains in serious condition. Their two children sustained non-life threatening injuries. Another home was damage along Evergreen Road as the tornado continued at EF2 intensity. Sporadic damage to trees continued further eastward... but the tornado weakened to an EF0 as it crossed the Oconee river. The tornado once again strengthened to an EF2 as it crossed Buckeye Road in the 2100 block... and then weakened to an EF1 as it crossed new Buckeye Road in the 1500 block. EF2 damage to a home was observed at 2185 Buckeye Road... and EF1 damage to another home at 1533 Buckeye Road. The majority of the tornado path was ranked as EF0 tornado damage. The path length of the tornado was approximately nine miles... with a maximum path width of 250 yards as it crossed U.S. 441 at Evergreen street.
All together... there were two Mobile homes destroyed... six other homes with major damage... some shifted off their foundations... at least one with its roof missing... and many with minor roof or siding damage. Many trees were either uprooted or snapped off along the path of the tornado. In addition... widespread non-tornadic wind damage was reported throughout much of the County... all the way from the Twiggs County line on the west side to the Johnson County line on the east side.
Tornado no. 6 (ef scale unknown): Toombs County/725 am EDT...
this tornado has not yet been rated. The damage path was limited to about 1/4 of a mile in the Normantown area about four miles north of Vidalia. Damage included four Mobile homes damaged... one Mobile home destroyed... one house destroyed... and one church destroyed. It also turned over a tractor-tailer and put down approximately 200 to 300 Pine trees. There were three minor injuries and seven families have been displaced from their homes.
Additional tornadoes may have occurred in Johnson... Treutlen... Fulton... and Troup counties. Damage survey teams will continue to investigate these areas Monday. This report will continue to be updated as soon as the information from these surveys becomes available.
