Residents in Upson County, Georgia were thrown into a folkloric situation when a small home in the county was yanked from its foundation and blown right onto the road by a tornado. For over 50 hours the home blocked the road before construction was able to get it out. According to WSBTV staff Tom Regan, it looked straight out of the wizard of Oz and he’d never seen anything like it in his 30-year career as a reporter [1].
Luckily, no one got hurt as the residents weren’t home when the disaster occurred. The couple who lived in the house rented it from Debra Daniels, a community member who lives in the same area. Speaking to Regan, she explained that the house had been built in the 50s and she had a few concerns when renting it out to the couple who lived there presently.
She was in the neighborhood with her husband when she heard the tornado sweeping through.
“I was with my husband and all of a sudden, the rain and I woke and said, ‘Wake up! Wake up!’ It’s true it sounds like a freight train,” Daniels said.
Tornado destruction: This looks like the tornado lifted house onto highway in Upson County. Highway blocked due to downed power lines. Not sure if anyone was hurt. pic.twitter.com/28tRfaismK
— Tom Regan (@tomreganWSB) April 13, 2020
A stroke of luck
Daniels and her husband had been terrified for the tenant couple. As at the time of the reporting, Daniels and her husband had been trying to contact the couple, but to no avail.
“We can’t find them, we can’t call anybody,” Daniels said.
When the worst of the storm had blown over, they found out that the couple hadn’t been at home when their house got blown 50 feet onto Trinity road.
Part of the roof and the chimney were sharply sliced off as the force of the storm caused the house to slam into nearby trees. However, Daniels is only thankful that the home’s occupants weren’t hurt. Their lives, and not the structure, are all that matter.
“Thank God we are alive,” Daniels said.
Another couple was barely spared from the disaster when the tornado sliced through the forest, uprooting tall pine trees in its path and just barely missed their home.
“She’s in the house, apparently she’s OK,” said Alan Harris, whose mother and stepfather lived in the home. “The good Lord spared her. They’re getting the trees cut out of the way right now.”
A trail of destruction
This tornado is a part of the multiple EF-3 tornado system that hit north Georgia, Tennessee and South Carolina early this week, one of which was responsible for the deaths of 7 people in Murray County. 23 persons have been hospitalized and 4 are still unaccounted for [2]. NWS reports that at least 9 people lost their lives in the natural disaster. There hadn’t been enough time or preparation to evacuate the residents from the entire region but so far, rescue missions have been concluded.
Upson County apparently took the brunt of the hit where trees were snapped up from their roots and flung in different directions. Several more homes were badly damaged in Thomaston and countless power lines are down as the Sherriff’s department and other local authorities continue to assess the massive damage.
In Bradley County, Tennessee, police reports that 15 persons were rescued and 6 were injured and taken to the hospital. Thankfully, no one died. In Hamilton County, 21 persons, including one child are being treated at various Erlanger emergency departments.
At least 60 persons die from tornados each year in the United States, according to National Geographic [3]. Many more are injured and the damages often cost billions of dollars to repair.
References
- “Tornado blows entire house into middle of road.” WSBTV. News Staff. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
- “NWS: “At least an EF3” tornado struck Tennessee Sunday night, 9 dead.” ABC News. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
- “Tornadoes, explained.” National Geographic. Retrieved April 16, 2020.