Death toll reaches 20 from storms across the Southeast
ADEL, GA. — A severe storm system that spun off apparent tornadoes and left scattered destruction around the Southeast has claimed at least 20 lives on a two-day sweep across the region, authorities said.
The enormous system put millions of people in the South on edge during a weekend of violent weather that left crumpled trailer homes, downed trees and other damage in the hardest-hit communities from Mississippi to Georgia. The severe weather threat was still continuing Sunday night in some parts, extending into the Carolinas and north Florida.
At least 16 people were killed Sunday in Georgia as the fast-moving storms tore across the state throughout the day, with at least one deadly tornado reported before dawn and violent storms still rumbling after nightfall. Four people were killed Saturday in Mississippi when the system began its deadly assault.
“There are houses just demolished,” said Norma Ford, who rushed out with other relatives Sunday evening after hearing a reported twister had overturned her nephew’s mobile home in the southwestern Georgia city of Albany, the region’s largest city with some 76,000 residents.
She said downed trees and powerlines made roads impassable, forcing them to walk the 2 miles to the mobile home park to check on her relatives. She said her nephew was fine, but several of his neighbors’ homes were destroyed.
Georgia’s latest three deaths were confirmed Sunday evening in Dougherty County where Albany is located, said Catherine Howden, spokeswoman for the Georgia Emergency Management Agency.
Sebon Burns, the county’s deputy chief for emergency management, said search and rescue efforts were continuing Sunday night following reports of injuries and extensive damage.
Yet the day’s deadliest toll came before daybreak Sunday when an apparent tornado blew through a mobile home park in south Georgia — about 60 miles southeast of Albany — shearing away siding, upending homes and killing seven people.
Coroner Tim Pur vi s of south Georgia’s Cook County confirmed that seven people died at the mobile home park, where about roughly half of the 40 homes were “leveled.” Georgia state emergency officials initially reported an eighth death in that county, but Howden later said that was incorrect.
The other deaths in Georgia were reported elsewhere.
Not far from the mobile home park, 19-year-old Jenny Bullard wore a sling on her injured arm as she combed through the rubble of her family’s brick house. All that remained standing Sunday afternoon was the master bedroom and parts of the kitchen.
“It’s a horrible tragedy,” Bullard said. “But all this stuff can be replaced. We can’t replace each other. ”
President Donald Trump said Sunday he had spoken with Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal and “expressed our sincere condolences for the lives taken.”
“Tornadoes were vicious and powerful and strong, and they suffered greatly,” Trump said during a White House ceremony where he was swearing in aides. “So we’ll be helping out the state of Georgia.”
Several homes appeared to be destroyed along on a road within about 2 miles of the mobile home park, with cinder blocks scattered on the ground, and pine trees uprooted and snapped in half. The tops of broken utility poles lay alongside the road.
The South Georgia Motorsports Park in Cecil also was heavy damaged; a grandstand was ripped apart. Barrels, signs, insulation and garbage were strewn over the speedway and parking lot.
Georgia’s governor declared a state of emergency in seven southern Georgia counties, freeing up state resources to assist with recovery efforts.
Two of Sunday’s deaths occurred when a mobile home was struck by an apparent tornado in Brooks County, which moved the home roughly 100 yards before dawn Sunday. “A tornado hit a mobile home, picked it up and put it in the middle of Highway 122,” Brooks County Coroner Michael Miller said.