On Sunday morning, weather officials were on the scene in Paulding County, where they say they believe a tornado passed through during the storm. The National Weather Service confirmed Sunday afternoon that a EF-0 tornado crossed from Paulding County and into Cobb County during the storms.
Officials with the National Weather Service say data Saturday night led them to suspect there may have been a weak tornado in the county. Officials said they were “relatively certain” that there was a tornado in the area and looked at the damage to find evidence of the dangerous winds.
In Rome, Georgia, the storm left widespread damage in its wake, toppling trees and damaging buildings. A home on Kenwood Drive in the city had its roof blown off. Trees also toppled on at least one home and multiple vehicles on Norwood Street. Fire officials tell FOX 5 the most damage is in the western area of Rome.
Near Georgia’s border to Alabama, the storm smashed through a Goody’s department store in Bremen, Georgia at around 5:30. A FOX 5 viewer shared photos of half the brick building completely blown open and bricks covering the parking lot. Only three of the letters of the store’s name stayed on the building.
The storms also blew the roof off First Presbyterian Church in Euharlee, Georgia in Bartow County, leaving the inside exposed to the elements. Wooden debris from the small church spilled onto the neighboring cemetery.
The Bartow Fire Department told FOX 5 multiple trees and power lines are down across the county and that there has been reported roof damage to at least two large buildings.
Some properties on Carson Loop also had to be evacuated temporarily after a tree fell on a gas tank, causing a leak.
In Atlanta, residents who braved the storm found fallen limbs and outages throughout the neighborhoods.
“When I looked up and saw [tree brush] and everything out front there, I said ‘OMG, Mother Nature,'” said Monica Moss. The southwest Atlanta resident discovered a massive tree crashed into her apartment off of Washington Road after running a quick errand.
“Right as we left, we heard a transformer blow and two major tree limbs were knocked down and knocked down the power line to our house,” described northwest Atlanta resident, Cameron Thompson. He described his street, without power Saturday evening, as “ominous” and “oddly quiet.”
Georgia Power reported that outages caused by the storm affected over 112,000 people in northwest Georgia. As of 11:30 Sunday morning, around 11,000 customers are still without power, with a majority of outages in the Rome, Cartersville, and Carrollton areas.
by FOX 5 Atlanta (2020, Jan 12)
