WALB.com News, Weather and Sports for Albany, Valdosta and Thomasville. Leading the way for South Georgia. | Severe storms damage homes, down trees
Member Center:
By Cade Fowler - bio | email
SUMTER COUNTY, GA (WALB) - Severe weather ripped through southwest Georgia Thursday night downing trees and power lines and causing damage to homes and businesses in several counties.
Brownlee's Grocery in Sumter County has a lot of cleanup to do. The small country store famous for its steaks and sausage is lucky to be standing after ripping winds came through Thursday night.
"The brick wall fell down. And the house behind the store, it was blown off its foundation," said James Manning. Manning, whose father-in-law runs the business, believes the damage was the result of a tornado.
"We think that it came from the southwest and just tore up the addition really. We were hoping it wasn't here but it was. It touchdown here and we're just going to have to clean up and we're just going to have to get as close as possible to getting things cleaned up here," said Manning.
Back to normal won't be easy for Angela Young in Worth County
"It sounded like a freight train or something coming through. It scared the daylights out of me and my son," said Young.
She and her son had to be rescued from their home when the front porch gave way to the powerful storm.
"I hollered Help! We're trapped. And they called 911 and got the paramedics and all out here and the fire department and they got us out," she said.
Young, who doesn't have home owner's insurance, is staying with relatives.
EMC and Georgia Power crews worked into the early morning hours in Tift and Worth Counties restoring electricity to scores of homes left in the dark.
An untold number of trees fell in Sumner and Ty Ty. A huge oak was no match for the storm in Tift County. It fell across Highway 82 taking power lines with it and blocking traffic for nearly an hour.
Most of the power was back on before daybreak. And officials say despite the destruction, fortunately no one was injured.
©2009 WALB News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Feedback
Comments Terms of Use: We welcome your participation in our community. Please keep your comments civil and on point. Notify us of any inappropriate comments by clicking the “Mark as Offensive” link. You must be at least 13 years of age to post comments. By submitting a comment, you agree to these
Terms of Service
You must be logged in to leave a comment. Login or register See all comments |
___________
gives you a choice about whether to receive telemarketing calls at home.
Check out a business or charity, or file a complaint.
operates the world's largest product testing and research lab.
works to prevent fraud, deception, and unfair business practices in the marketplace.
