One Jones County family feels like they dodged a bullet after strong storms blew through Central Georgia Thursday.
Nancy Tillman was on her mail route with the Gray Post Office when she saw dark clouds gathering. She and her family live on Will Russell Road in Jones County where a tornado briefly touched down Thursday evening.
“His phone went off, he looked at it and it said, ‘Tornado warning in Round Oak.’ Of course, this is Round Oak, so he looked and he saw it coming over the trees, the circulation,” said Tillman.
Tillman says her son Derek was getting ready to leave for work when he saw the tornado spinning toward their home.
“And the alarm on his phone from Channel 13 is what triggered him to go back inside,” Tillman said.
According to the National Weather Service, the tornado knocked down 6 to 10 trees near the intersection of Round Oak, Juliette Road, and Will Russell Road in the Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge.
Tillman says when she came home from work, she was expecting the worst. “And I was expecting to have to put tarps over it and that I would have water all in my house from the rain, but when I got to the top of the hill and saw my roof, I knew I was good. I can handle anything.”
She says they lost power for just 4 hours and she is just glad everyone is safe.
The National Weather Service says that Jones County tornado traveled less than a quarter mile on the ground.
Tillman says the 13WMAZ Weather App helped alert her son who was outside at the time.
by WMAZ Staff (2018, August 3)
