Weather service, EMA still reviewing storm damage across county
The National Weather Service has determined at least one tornado touched down in Gilmer County as a severe storm system ripped across the county and upper north Georgia late Wednesday night and early Thursday morning.
Gilmer was under a tornado warning beginning around 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 8, as severe thunderstorms with possible rotation headed this way.
After conducting damage assessments across the county last week, the Peachtree City National Weather Service office determined that an EF1 tornado touched down near the intersection of Ellington Road and Old Highway 5 with estimated wind speeds of 90-100 miles an hour. The path of the tornado was determined to be .64 miles long and up to 150 yards wide. No fatalities or injuries were reported.
According to the weather service’s official statement, the tornado crossed Old Highway 5, and the last of its damage was near the railroad tracks just north of the Progress Road and Casey Drive intersection.
The confirmed EF1 may have been part of a longer track tornado or multiple tornadoes, the weather service stated. They are still reviewing storm damage in other areas in the county and had not confirmed any other tornadoes in Gilmer County by press time Tuesday.
“They’re not done yet. This is just for the Ellington Road/ Old 5 site,” said Keith Kucera, Gilmer County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) director. “They haven’t been able to correlate anything else yet and are still working on it. GEMA was out here Thursday and Friday, and the weather service was here on Friday, so there’s a lot of resources working to determine what we got.”
Gilmer EMA is still also working on storm damage assessments, Kucera confirmed.
“We’re going out, taking pictures and sending them to the weather service. Out Owltown Road and Mount Zion Road, there’s pretty significant (damage) there. The area (around) Weeks Road and the Quinn Springs subdivision got hit pretty hard. There’s quite a few areas with damage,” said Kucera. “That’s why the weather service is trying to correlate everything and determine what actually was there, whether it was a tornado or straight-line winds. I’m hoping, by the end of the week, we will have more of a definitive answer.”
Extensive damage occurred in the Ellington Road/Old Highway 5 area. The Georgia Forestry Commission’s (GFC) county office and equipment garage was among several demolished structures in the tornado’s path. Its roof and walls lay in shambles following the storm, as did nearby buildings and sections of a mini-storage facility.
“The building is a total loss. No personnel were injured since it happened after hours, and nobody was on shift,” said Mason Turner, chief GFC ranger for Gilmer.
Other than being displaced, Turner said the local forestry commission staff and firefighters will continue as usual. As of Friday, they were in talks with the county to set up a temporary office.
“As far as our (heavy equipment) units that were stored there, both of them are still operational, and there’s nothing wrong with them. They’re still operational to run wildfires,” Turner said.
Other areas hit hard by the storms are around Roy Road, Chatsworth Highway, Highway 282 and Old Highway 5, noted Jason Bryant, Gilmer deputy fire chief.
Downed trees with entangled power lines presented obstacles for Gilmer Fire and Rescue Thursday morning as the fallen lines initially prevented ambulances from immediately reaching some in need of medical attention.
“If it’s just trees down, we can handle that, but we can’t do anything if they’re wrapped up in power lines,” Bryant said.
Thursday morning, the Gilmer Sheriff’s Office was aware of at least 20 different locations, including roads, that had been flooded by rising water. By then, the Coosawattee River had begun spilling out of its banks in areas including River Park.
“We had 911 calls in regard to sick people and a lot of down power line calls and tree down calls. We (also) had some traffic crashes,” said Capt. Frank Copeland following the storms.
Culvert washouts were also widespread across the county leading to significant road damage in multiple areas. Sunlight Road was one place where this happened, as a section of road was left hanging above where a culvert gave way to the rushing water. An section of Highland Crossing in East Ellijay that leads to shopping centers and restaurants was also shut down due to a washout under the road.
In Coosawattee River Resort, high winds knocked down trees, and overflowing ditches left debris in roadways. A special weather announcement from management to residents the morning of May 9 advised:
“Fallen trees have obstructed roads, creating significant safety hazards. Moreover, heavy rainfall has caused rapid river surges, resulting in flooding extending beyond the banks. Exercise utmost caution and prioritize your safety above all else.”
Also in Coosawattee, another culvert washout caused a major water line break, which was later repaired. Gary McVey, Ellijay-Gilmer County Water and Sewerage Authority director, said that was really the only place a significant water main break occurred due to the storms.
By late Saturday night, power had been restored to almost 12,000 Gilmer County Amicalola Electric (AEMC) customers affected by outages, noted Stacey Fields, AEMC representative.
“Crews from Snapping Shoals EMC, Coweta-Fayette EMC and Carroll EMC assisted our Amicalola EMC crews. In addition, contractor crews from Pike and Mastec were brought in, as well as Real Tree and Tree Line right of way crews,” Fields added.
A Go Fund Me has been set up for at least one Ellijay resident whose home was demolished by the storm. Ernest Buckner, a retiree, lost pretty much everything, noted granddaughter Brianna Buckner. The Go Fund Me can be found by searching the website for Help Ernest Buckner After Storm.