Some people moved into motels. Others moved into their laundry rooms, basements, and hallways. Some stood on their porch and watched the storm pass.
The ways in which Northeast Georgians responded to Monday morning’s severe weather were as varied as the damage the storm left behind.
Habersham County was among the hardest-hit counties in the region.
The damage was so widespread on the south end of Habersham that officials and homeowners alike suspected a tornado touched down.
A preliminary survey by the National Weather Service released Tuesday indicates an EF1 tornado did strike the south end of Habersham County.
NWS now says tornado hit south Habersham County
The tornado followed a narrow path approximately 100 yards wide and 4.88 miles long. NH weathercaster Tyler Penland says it was from the same storm cell that spawned an EF1 tornado in Stephens County. He says “it lifted and touched down again” as it moved from Habersham into neighboring Stephens.
The damage elsewhere in Habersham was caused by straight-line winds, Penland says. For those whose homes and businesses were damaged, the aftermath felt the same.
Close call
Near the Habersham-Hall County line, a tree crashed into the home of Nate and Katy Garner. It seriously damaged the house but, miraculously, missed all four family members inside.
“Luckily the tree fell perfectly in between our bed and our son’s bed in separate rooms,” Katy tells Now Habersham. In addition to the upstairs damage, pipes burst and dumped 400 gallons of water into their basement.
Repairs are estimated at between $100,000 to $150,000, Katy says. The house was insured but the repairs likely will take at least three months to complete.
The Garners have a 1-year-old son and a 12-year-old daughter. They’ve reached out to the Red Cross for help with temporary housing. Katy set up a GoFundMe account to help pay for clothes and other essentials that were lost to the storm.
North of the Garner’s home, in Alto, first responders had to chainsaw their way through the debris to rescue people trapped inside their homes by toppled trees.
Several homes were hit along Harrison Trail. Rescuers freed a number of residents there before dawn Monday. Hours later, they rescued a person trapped inside a house on Yonah Post Road.
Four miles to the northeast, on GA-365 in Baldwin, the storm mangled roofs on the Hayes auto dealership and adjacent BP gas station.
SEE More photos of storm damage in Habersham County
The storm cut a path through the Baldwin Heights subdivision, snapping trees and shearing off branches.
James Wiese lives in Chandler Heights in Baldwin. He says firefighters came knocking on his door before sunrise “to warn us of the 3-inch gas leak 200 feet from our house.” Emergency crews evacuated residents from about a dozen homes in the neighborhood for approximately 2.5 hours while the line was repaired.
“Baldwin Fire Department and other responders did an amazing job,” Wiese says.
Once the gas leak was fixed, teams of people with chainsaws and tractors began clearing debris. “It was really quite impressive,” he says. “Great people!”
There also were reports of damage in Mt. Airy along Dicks Hill Parkway and in the Hardman and New Liberty Road areas near Clarkesville.
Power outages
Numerous county roads were blocked by downed trees and power lines. Firefighters and law enforcement helped county road crews clear the debris.
The storms knocked out power to over 177, 000 homes and businesses across Georgia.
Habersham EMC linemen got assistance from Lee and Pike Electrical to bring their customers back online. Georgia Power crews, too, fanned out across Northeast Georgia – and the state – to restore electricity lost in the storm.
Twister in Stephens. White County spared.
The same tornadic cell that spawned the twister in Habersham later dropped an EF1 tornado on Stephens County. With winds speeds at 110MPH, it was on the high-end of the scale (tornadoes are classified as EF2s starting at 111MPH). Later, the same cell dropped an EF3 tornado in Seneca, SC that resulted in major damage and one fatality.
The outbreak of tornados that stretched across the South on Easter Sunday into Monday killed at least 33 people including seven in Georgia and nine in South Carolina.
As unusual as it was, White County sustained only minor damage. The county, which often bears the brunt of severe weather in the region, was spared from any major damage. Emergency personnel responded to several calls of downed trees blocking roadways There was street flooding in Helen and a house fire Sunday on Goat Neck Road that officials say was caused by lightning.
Other Northeast Georgia counties reported power outages and trees down, but there were no reports of any injuries.
This article is updated to reflect the latest National Weather Service report indicating a tornado touched down in Habersham County.
