NEWNAN, Ga. — Alabama made headlines for a cluster of tornadoes, but in Georgia, it’s the state’s strongest twister in a decade that people are recovering from today.
Chief Meteorologist Jeff Cox traveled to Newnan to survey the damage left behind.
This was the strongest tornado in a decade and was rated an E-4 with winds as high as 170 mph.
Only nine other twisters had similar ratings since 1950 in Georgia.
While surveying, we met a Newnan resident that lost their home all the while being inside of it as the tornado caused the house to collapse.
Anthony Jeffery says it was a calm night and he hadn’t checked the news or had any clue of what was to come.
He shared he was alone at the house with only his dogs that he brought in the house when it started to drizzle rain.
Jeffery was getting ready for bed around 9:00 p.m. but he never did catch that sleep as the storm made its way through the neighborhood.
“I hear the siren going on and you’re used to hearing that out here and your like ok. But it goes on for five minutes and fades. Then everything goes quiet,” said Jeffery.
Right after that silence, he says a bright flash of lightning and “this crazy thunder I’ve never heard, I mean it’s like it was doing it’s on talking” commenced.
As quickly as it came, Jeffery says it all stopped but then a sound that he said he could tell was not just rain erupted.
He grabbed both of his dogs to run into the bathroom and right as he did, the window in his bedroom shattered.
Anthony and his dogs stayed in that tub while the tornado began to dismember the home.
“The tub lifted and folds and everything is falling at an angle,” said Jeffery.
He says this is when he knew he was in a bad position as insulation was in the air and was bothering his throat.
“I’m laying in the tub no one knows I’m here, I can’t see anything I don’t know what going on, I said this ain’t good, I tried to push back and nothing moved,” said Jeffery.
He says around this time he heard a familiar voice that gave him hope as they were calling his name, this voice was his neighbor.
“And I hear her calling, I say gotta do something now cause someone knows I’m here, I can’t see anything just grabbing around, started grabbing sheetrock but I’ve got all these other boards with nails so I’m trying to maneuver around them,” said Jeffery.
Jeffery and his dogs did make it out and showed us the damage. Personal items with memories that are now in the debris of what once was his home.
He doesn’t believe he would have made it if he were upstairs as opposed to the bathroom downstairs due to how the house collapsed.
The town of Newnan and many families like Anthony are working to rebuild and repair the many homes that were left in shambles.
The Georgia Red Cross estimated that 50 to 70 families would need help.
You can help people affected by disasters like storms and countless other crises by making a gift to American Red Cross Disaster Relief.
Your gift enables the Red Cross to prepare for, respond to and help people recover from disasters big and small.
by Jeff Cox and Perry Smith (2021, Mar 29) WGXA
