Georgia Tornadoes: The Morning After
MONDAY: No storm clouds today. Just sun and lots of wind. But that wind is slowing the cleanup and recovery.
Homeowners and construction crews are battling to keep tarps from blowing off the roofs of damaged homes. And the winds are slowing utility crews in their efforts to restore electricity to tens of thousand of residents — in some cases knocking out power in neighborhoods unaffected by the Mother’s Day storm.
The National Weather Service has confirmed half a dozen tornadoes struck parts of Georgia yesterday, including the suburban Atlanta neighborhood in Clayton County from where we’ve been doing our live reports (click on the video for a look behind the scenes).
Meteorologists estimate these twisters carried winds between 120 and 130 miles per hour, which would categorize them as EF-2 on the Enhanced Fujita scale.
In Clayton County alone, the storm damaged 163 homes. Local authorities have deemed 45 of those homes uninhabitable.
Clayton is just one of 19 Georgia counties, from the northern part of the state to the coast, reporting damage from Sunday’s storm.
My colleague Marianne Silber continues our coverage today.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
SUNDAY: The Atlanta bureau is en-route to Ellenwood — a suburban Atlanta community hit hard this morning by a storm system that has spawned tornadoes and heavy winds across much of the Midwest and Southeastern United States.
A Georgia Power spokeswoman tells me 87,000 residents are still without electricity statewide, 11,000 of them here in Metro-Atlanta. But the vast majority of those without power, 63-thousand residents, are concentrated in the center of the state — near Macon.
Georgia Power says one of the biggest obstacles is fallen trees. Utility crews are having to cut their way through debris to get to affected areas.
Rescue crews complain of similar problems. According to Georgia Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman Lisa Janak, 19 Georgia Counties are reporting damage.
This morning’s storm system struck Georgia barely two months after the EF-2 tornado that ripped through downtown Atlanta. The city still shows scars from that storm, with windows boarded up on some of the downtown skyscrapers.
Among the buildings damaged in that March tornado — the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Disaster Assistance. SBA spokesman Richard Daigle compares it to “when the firehouse catches fire,” but insists it did not slow the agency down in processing grants and low-interest loans for businesses and individuals who sustained uninsured losses.
Good thing. His office will, no doubt, find itself busy once again as this active tornado season continues to unleash its fury.
Jonathan Serrie is an Atlanta-based correspondent for FNC. He was
stationed in Macedonia during Operation Allied Force and in Uzbekistan
during Operation Enduring Freedom. 
It is devastating around the Swainsboro, GA area but we are a close knit community and soon after the storms hit many friends were assisting people in any way they could. There are thousands of trees blown down or snapped in half along Pinetucky Road, Kite Road [Kite area], Highway 1 North [Dellwood area] and Highway 56 [Summertown area]. We are truly blessed that no one was hurt seriously. It was a Mother’s Day that will truly be remembered and also my 6th wedding anniversary. However my husband ended up spending it with many of his fellow Georgia Power workers who were diligently working from 8am Sunday morning until they were able to come home at about 6am Monday morning for some much needed rest before they go back today to start over and let others go home and rest. I believe that they are often some looked over individuals who take their jobs seriously and I LOVE him very much and look forward to spending many more Mother’s Days and wedding aniversaries with him. I am proud of him and am glad to share him with people in need at such devastating times.
How long was traffic stopped just south of Macon? I was there from about 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. before turning around and heading back north. No one knew how long the road would be blocked.
This is a terrible loss. I may be too early for talk like this, buy maybe the Georgian’s should consider looking towards Greensburg, KS for some insight on how to deal with this tragedy. These people have already been through this type of thing and they may have some excellent advice.
my name is joshua and i am now in seventh grade i go to FMS and my house was tore down and my parents died. i am devistated and now im in a foster home please help….
im so sorry for all the terrible storms al im gonna say is Jesus gave e a gifti fel it before iteverhappened i dont care who believes me Jesus gave it and i cant tell u what stae but i can say it will b tornadoes i felt all of them and said it before they happened i told my mther she believes me shehas faith i payed n pryed or victimsi feel these so far away . My back is in bad shapeits not the atmspheric pressure its a gift but its notthe one i chose he did . Ask my momma ive tol her of all the tornadoes that wee gonna happen u believe it or ot i dont care ! Im awake their are moretornadoes coming i feelthem now oh jesus pls b with the devestation ! Thanks its my news story i never knew i would be able to tell this but its fom up above have faith but oh how im prayng no lives r taken ! Myback sys its a killer! yes m sorry ! ive only seen one but oh iveflt so many lately ! more than dozens! Sunday morning i felt it yesterday i felt storms my bak hurt worse than my discgram i told mommma im hurtin so bad today ! now im hurtin so bad get prepared i really dont know what state just feel tornadoes coming!
I AM THANKFUL THAT NO ONE IN MACON LOSS THEIR LIFE.I PRAY FOR THE FAMILY IN LAURENS COUNTY
THAT LOST THEIR FAMILY MEMBER.I DONT THINK WE NEED TO LOOK TOWARDS GREENSBURG,OR KANSAS,THE ONLY ONE WE NEED TO LOOK TOWARDS JESUS.. HE IS THE ONLY ONE THAT CAN SEE US THROUGH THIS
I feel so sorry for folks in Ga. and Co. We here in the ozarks see this almost every year,from pitcher ok. to purdy mo. we lost many people only a couple weeks ago .the south mo. and north ar.ozarks get hit very hard by tornados, but little is reported. guess ozarkers just dont count.