July 10, 2005
Albany-- Many South Georgia counties are under a tornado watch until midnight. We are experiencing wind gusts of nearly 50 miles per hour and there's a steady rain falling.
In Grady County, there are downed trees and power lines. High winds, possibly a twister caused damage in Mitchell County this morning.
Portions of the roof were ripped off Mitchell County Middle School. A brick wall attached to the school's technical lab building collapsed. A look inside the school shows lots of water damage. A cluster of trees outside the school were uprooted.
The superintendent is happy that the damage is limited and no one was in the building at the time. "If any human had been around or any living organism had been hit with that, it would have been devastating I'm sure,” said Superintendent Beauford Hicks.
Officials will know within the next few days how extensive the damage is.
The Southwest Georgia Regional Airport in Albany is closed today. All flights into and out of the airport have been cancelled. The airport in Valdosta remains open.
Hurricane Dennis is nearing landfall. The storm is about 35 miles south-southeast of Pensacola in the Florida Panhandle, and moving north-northwest at about 18 miles per hour. Winds are up to 135 miles per hour. Hurricane-force winds stretch out up to 40 miles from the center.
Landfall is expected somewhere along the coast near Pensacola in virtually the same spot as last year's Hurricane Ivan.
Ben Roberts is live in Panama City Beach, less than 100 miles from where Dennis is expected to make landfall.
In Gulf County Florida which is east of Panama City Highway 98 is closed from highland view to the bay county line. This is between Apalachicola and the Cape San Blas area and Panama City.
A section of Highway 98 in Highland View has washed out to due extensive erosion, closing an approximate 8 mile section.
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