Tornadoes confirmed in CSRA, elsewhere during severe storm
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - At least three tornadoes have been confirmed in the CSRA from severe storms Sunday morning.
The National Weather Service came to Barnwell and Burke counties on Monday to survey the damage.
Experts determined Burke County saw two EF-0 tornadoes and Barnwell County saw one EF-0 tornado.
The Burke County tornadoes were east of Girard, and both had maximum winds of 80 mph. They traveled parallel paths (see the map above), and one went 4.35 miles and was 70 yards wide, while the other traveled 3.08 miles and was 100 yards wide. They were on the ground from about 7 a.m. to 7:04 a.m.
The Barnwell County tornado was near Snelling and had peak winds of 80 mph. It was 50 yards wide and traveled 0.3 mile (see the map above). It touched down at 7:27 a.m. and was on the ground for two minutes.
All three carry the lowest ratings on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, but even a weak tornado can do a lot of damage.
The tornadoes aren’t a surprise, since radar readings triggered at least five tornado warnings across the CSRA early Sunday.
But the confirmation of tornadoes didn’t come until Monday.
Elsewhere, Georgia saw tornadoes in Paulding and Mitchell counties, officials confirmed, and one crossed Lake Murray in South Carolina.
At Lake Murray
The National Weather Service confirmed the South Carolina twister touched down at 7:38 a.m. Sunday in Chapin and stayed on the ground until 7:48 a.m.
Rated at EF-1, it formed over the lake, then moved into the Timberlake neighborhood, causing its most concentrated damage near Isle of Pines Drive.
After crossing Isle of Pines Drive, the tornado re-entered the lake and moved back onto land near Indian Cove Road before dissipating.
The twister was 125 yards wide and traced a path 5.8 miles long.
Estimated peak winds were around 90 mph.
In Paulding County
In north Georgia’s Paulding County, there was “significant damage,” including 14 homes damaged by falling trees, according to the sheriff.
It’s the result of an EF-1 tornado moving through the area as a storm rages late Saturday and early Sunday.
There was visible damage to business signs, and the canopy over a Texaco station’s gas pumps was ripped up by the high wind and tipped against a building along Villa Rica Highway.
Roof damage and debris were reported at a Kroger on Nathan Dean Boulevard.
Zach Burgess’ family experienced it all.
He grabbed his young daughters out of a second-story bedroom inside their home on Chase Way in Dallas when the winds picked up late Saturday night. Just minutes later, trees came crashing through the ceiling.
“A lot of loud booms, almost kind of like explosions, and then it was like being in a vacuum,” Burgess said. “It was chaos. There was insulation everywhere. There was drywall everywhere. Studs were falling.”
PHOTO GALLERY: NORTH GEORGIA DAMAGE
Despite all the damage, the family’s backyard chickens all survived the storm. And miraculously no one inside the home was injured.
Across town, another tree fell on a home on Mount Tabor Church Road, narrowly missing a married couple and their 2-month-old baby.
“It sounded like a train was coming through the yard and then it was just wham,” Scotty Valiani said. “We were in our pajamas barefoot, but we were like, ‘OK, let’s get out of here.’”
Paulding County Sheriff Ashley Henson says at least 14 homes are seriously damaged by trees.
Despite the devastation, neighbors came out to help those in need.
“Our community has really stepped up. We probably had 30 or 40 people out here today,” Burgess said.
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In Mitchell County
The steeple on the Pebble City Baptist Church is knocked over and a window is broken, and only 100 yards away the Mitchell County community center is reduced to rubble.
Pastor Ronnie Kinsaul believes God spared his church.
“The Lord was with us. He caused it to possibly jump over or go around us,” Kinsaul said. “It’s quite a little bit of damage, but it’s nothing that’s going to stop us or anything. He saw fit to leave a building here.”
A tornado touched down around 6:15 a.m. Sunday morning. Two hours later, the sun was up, and power lines were being repaired on the property. Seven of the congregation gathered on the front pews as Pastor Kinsaul prayed and gave thanks for their safety.
“It could have been quite devastating for us,” he said after the prayer.
The view looking out the church entrance shows how close the congregation came to losing its place of worship. Tall trees are uprooted and others are cut in half like toothpicks. Just beyond that wooded field of debris, the Michell County Community Center and the Pebble City Volunteer Fire Department were both flattened.
Michael Young was in his home on Highway 37, watching the news, when he believed the tornado narrowly missed his home.
PHOTO GALLERY: SOUTH GEORGIA DAMAGE
“I was inside watching WALB News, listening to the updates. Thank God they were on and we had power from Mitchell EMC”, he said. “As soon as it started getting close, I started running to the bathroom and windows started busting out. I got really scared for about five seconds.”
A large, uprooted tree fell just next to his home, but Young said the storm shook his foundations, and he’s not sure if the structural integrity is intact. Outside, his shed is in pieces and everything that was in it is scattered it on his lawn. His father-in-law was in the home next door and it too was damaged, but he wasn’t hurt either.
According to Mitchell County Gary Rice, the county had a lot of downed trees, but there were no reports of injuries.
In Alabama
In southeast Alabama near the Georgia border, a tornado ed near the city of Troy, causing damage, ripping down power lines, and closing roads.
Doppler tracking showed the center of the abnormally wide storm ed east of the city, likely limiting damage.
Also impacted was a community center used as a shelter.
Elsewhere in Alabama, two people died in Dallas County and the small town of Gordo received significant damage from a tornado. In Talladega, winds threw a school bus onto a roof.
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