Downed trees and limbs blocked roads in the Soque Falls subdivision after a powerful storm swept through Thursday night. Jasper Lee (shown here) and his wife Delene photographed the storm’s aftermath.
Residents in the Soque Falls subdivision in Batesville are cleaning up from a storm that toppled trees and branches during a storm Thursday night. Homeowner Delene Lee says it felt like a tornado swept through the neighborhood. “It was very scary,” she says. “The winds were swirling and slammed into the back of the house and then the rain came and it slammed into the front of the house.” Lee says it felt like a tornado but was very “localized.”
According to the National Weather Service, there were no tornadoes reported in northeast Georgia on June 18 but there were reports of widespread wind damage in Hart and Stephens Counties.
Based on the description and damage near Batesville, Now Habersham weatherman Tyler Penland says it appears a microburst swept through the neighborhood. “When thunderstorms collapse, the air the updraft was holding up rushes to the ground creating a fairly localized (generally less than 1 mile) area of damaging winds.” Penland says weather models did not indicate strong enough rotation in Thursday night’s storm cells to create a tornado. “Any swirling winds were probably caused by terrain or buildings,” he explains.
Whatever it was, Lee says it came without warning. She says the alarm on her weather alert radio sounded after the storm started. Still, she and her husband, Jasper, are relieved it wasn’t any worse.
The forecast calls for a chance of scattered storms through the weekend. Click here for the latest Habersham 7-Day Forecast.
