By Christian Jennings - bio | email
THOMASVILLE, GA (WALB) - One person is dead and 22 injured in the state, and Friday afternoon, Governor Sonny Perdue declared a state of emergency in four counties affected by the severe weather-- Hancock, Jasper, Warren, and Thomas.
No one was seriously injured in Thomas county or any other part of our region, but 29 homes were destroyed and there's still a lot of clean up left to do.
About 100 homes are still without power, including some of the homes on Crestwood Drive, one of the many areas in Thomas County that sustained damage. 160 homes and other structures in the county were damaged.
Friday, clean up was the name of the game, crews were busy all day long, chopping up trees, removing power lines, and restoring power.
Miles of devastation show the strength of the tornadoes that swept through Thomas County.
Trees uprooted, homes demolished, and now hundreds of people left to clean up the mess.
Naomi Monroe lives in one of the 100 homes still without power. You can see where a tree came right through her roof while she was sleeping.
About a mile down the road at Southwestern State Hospital, more extensive damage.
No one was injured but several patients were moved to other buildings on campus, some were even transferred to a hospital in Columbus.
And at Brookwood School, crews worked hard to patch the roof. The school was closed for repairs.
Over off Metcalf road, Kristin Doane's home was one of the 29 homes destroyed in the county. "This was the worst damage," she said. "This was our living room and in here this was the kitchen. the tree went through there, these windows busted out."
And She still can't believe she's alive to tell the story of that terrifying night. "We're just thanking god that we're alive. and thanking him we made it through. I survived the tornado of 2009."
Emergency management here says they are getting some mutual aid assistance from some surrounding counties, so that helps with clean up. And now that the county is officially in a state of emergency, they will got some much needed help from the state as well.
Grady county was also hit, but only 15 homes were damaged, and all power is restored in the county.
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