UGA Study Shows Drought-Tornado Link

A University of Georgia researcher says there’s a surprising connection between periods of drought and the number of tornadoes that strike the Southeast.

The past two springs have produced numerous and damaging twisters. Several hit north, central and south Georgia this February through April. And it was the destructive March 2008 Atlanta tornado that spurred Marshall Shepherd to launch a study--is it rare to see such activity, coming out of drought conditions of the previous fall and winter seasons?

The associate professor with UGA’s Atmospheric Sciences Department went back through decades of records, finding this result 93-percent of the time in the southeast:

"The strongest statistical result that is related to the fact that when there’s drought there’s below normal activity. We haven’t been able to establish a strong link that suggests when the fall and winter is wetter, that you have even more tornadoes the following spring."

Shepherd says he wants to compare this research with that from the tornado-alleys of the Midwest. He says further study could lead forecasters to better predict seasonal tornado-activity…much like hurricane predictions made annually.

Georgia Hit By Severe Weather

Another round of severe weather moved through parts of Georgia Sunday night, leaving some damage in north and western portions of the state. Officials in Cherokee County report some damage to homes, with downed trees and power lines from high winds. In the Columbus-area, some homes there sustained what was termed "major damage" by the the National Weather Service. Forecasters have not yet determined whether any of the damage reported came from tornadoes. The storms also brought heavy downpours of rain, with a wide swath of counties reported hail.

Severe storms hit; planes delayed at Hartsfield

Severe storms are sweeping across much of north Georgia, generating heavy rain, hail and winds thatdowned trees and powerlines. Flights were delayed for up to 90 minutes at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport as dark gray clouds swirled in from the west. A possible tornado was reported in northwest Georgia's Chattooga County. Meteorologists at the National Weather Service in Peachtree Citywere so busy tracking the storms that they could not immediately confirm the twister. Georgia Emergency Management Agency spokesman Ken Davis says there's a report of three possible tornadoes striking in FranklinCounty, more than a 100 miles away in northeast Georgia. Heavy storms also pelted several counties south of Atlanta.

(Associated Press)

Chatham Co. improves warning sirens

Savannah's Chatham County has completed a $600,000 upgrade to its warning siren system. The improvement comes as safety from severe weather remains on the minds of many.

When tornadoes struck March last year, the county had 30 warning sirens and many people complained that they didn't hear them. County officials then made siren funding a priority. And today those leaders stood beneath a newly installed siren at Savannah's Forsyth Park to announce the county now has 60 sirens.

"We have 95% of the land mass of Chatham County covered," says Clayton Scott, the director of the county's emergency management agency. "It's important because it's designed for places like this, where people are playing tennis, if there's a hazardous materials spill, if all of a sudden, the weather turns bad, so we can warn them."

Scott says, the sirens are only meant to be heard outdoors. Indoors, residents should have a weather radio with localizing technology. Sirens are tested on first Wednesdays in clear weather. In a real tornado warning two-weeks ago, the new sirens clearly could be heard in areas previously unserved by sirens.

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South Georgia Braces For Flooding

The storms that once again brought multiple inches of rain to parts of the state have now given way to concerns over waters rising this morning. An update from Ken Davis of the Georgia Emergency Management Agency:

"What we're seeing is a continued rise in the river and creek levels, particularly across southwest, south-central, southeast, and even central Georgia."

As example this morning, flooding includes the Satilla River in Waycross, affecting residents in Pierce and Ware counties. Moderate flooding is happening now, with major flood stage for that river forecast by this afternoon. Many secondary roads are closed across south Georgia and central portions of the state. For a time last night, a section of Interstate-75 in the Cordele area had to be closed to traffic with water covering the roadway.

GEMA's Davis says there are also 20 school systems, mainly in south Georgia, closed today.

Davis says there were no reports of any tornadoes in Georgia.

Severe Storms Moving Through Georgia

Forecasters are warning Georgians to be alert for severe weather today. The National Weather Service has put the state under a high risk forecast--that means the potential exits for powerful storms, tornadoes, large hail, heavy rainfall and damaging winds. Forecasters say the greatest risk for severe thunderstorms will be west of a line from Carrollton to Warner Robins to Vidalia.

In south Georgia, several counties still trying to recover from flooding damage out of last weekend are now bracing for possible additional problems. Governor Sonny Perdue has activated the state operations center, putting multiple agencies now on standby to help where needed.

Red Cross Seing Dip in Donations

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Thomasville, Area Residents Take Stock in Tornadoes' Wake (photos)

Last Thursday's tornadoes caused heavy damage to a mental hospital and two counties in southwest Georgia.

Red dots represent the tornadoes' damage track near Thomasville, Ga. Click image for larger graphic. (Courtesy: NOAA)

Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine visited and flew over areas hit by the twisters, and puts an over $10 million dollar price tag on the damage.

The tornadoes blew down two pine trees across this house off State Highway 319, south of Thomasville. Ga., in this photo taken on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2009. (Photo courtesy Greg Miller)

He says he was surprised by the extent of the destruction, and adds that Thomas County sustained the greatest damage statewide:

"In Thomas and Grady County there were about 100 homes and other structures that were damaged by the two tornadoes that went through Thomas County, and there were about two dozen that were either destroyed or almost destroyed."

The storms wreaked havoc on Southwestern State mental Hospital in Thomasville. Officials, however, report no injuries.

The tornado demolished this enclosed corridor, "part of an old military barracks on the Southwestern State Hospital campus." (Photo: Teresa Williams/Thomasville Times-Enterprise)

Almost 160 patients remain hospitalized at the 420-bed center, although many have been moved to other facilities in Columbus and Milledgeville, for the interim.

Oxendine says his office hopes to meet with counterparts at the Department of Human Resources, who run Southwestern State, in coming days.

The storm's winds overturned this school bus, in the parking lot of the Brookwood school, Thomasville. Ga., in this photo taken on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2009. The school sustained damage, but there were no injuries to students or staff, according to the photographer. (Photo courtesy Greg Miller)

Officials estimate the storm's effects statewide at upwards of $35 million dollars.

View Larger Map

Google street level map of Southwestern State Hospital at Thomasville, Ga.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of last week's storms.

Storm Damage Estimate: $25M

Twenty-five million dollars is the early damage estimate of the violent storms that tore through Georgia earlier this week.

Governor Sonny Perdue declared a state of emergency in four Georgia counties: Hancock, Jasper, Thomas and Warren.

The storm spawned eleven tornadoes, killing one person and injuring

One insurance company has reported it expects as many as 750 claims from homeowners and businesses. 1,000 claims for damaged vehicles.

In the Hancock county town of Sparta, Johnny Frank Bakers was killed when his home was destroyed by the storm.

Middle Georgia Twisters

Strong storms swept through several Middle Georgia counties on Wednesday night causing widespread damage from high winds and possible tornadoes.
All across Middle Georgia there were reports of damage. Jasper, Putnam and Hancock County were the hardest hit. Eighty year-old Johnny Frank Baker of Hancock County died when his mobile home was destroyed. His daughter and grandchildren were injured. Lynda Reynolds lives in Hancock County and describes the damage.

"Just debris everywhere. There was a log home that was completely lifted off of the foundation and set back down with trees on top of it. Hickory Grove Church was completely destroyed."

The storm also caused a suspected tornado in Eatonton. Putnam County Sheriff Howards Sills says it completely destroyed a bar called, "Robert Parham's Place," with four people inside.

"Mr. Parham himself was in there. He got down beneath the bar and everything else is gone, but I guess that protected him. The other two people were missing for a short period of time but we found them pretty quick."

The line of storms also destroyed several buildings in Jasper County.

Hands On Georgia wraps up

16,000 volunteers are gearing up for a statewide volunteer day Saturday. It wraps up the weeklong Hands On Georgia community service projects across the state. This weekend's project include fixing homes damaged by the Mother's Day tornadoes in Macon this year, sorting and bagging food at the Thomas County food bank and holding a cookout in Columbus for soldiers returning from Iraq. Last year, Hands on Georgia drew 68,000 volunteers who gave nearly 200,000 hours of community service during the weeklong event.

FEMA cuts Macon funds

Residents in and around Macon are still cleaning up from a series of deadly tornadoes that ripped through the area in May. Now the federal government says there will be less money for that cleanup.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is deducting 130-thousand dollars from the amount it will pay the city. Officials at FEMA say Macon still owes them money from the Flood of 1994.
That flood came as a result of Tropical Storm Alberto and was the worst disaster in Macon's history. The city was without water for more than two weeks. FEMA says Macon did not properly document some expenses during the flood.
The cleanup for the so-called, Mothers Day Tornado's, that killed three, could cost Macon as much as 3-million dollars. FEMA will pay about 80-percent of those expenses, minus the 130-thousand dollars.

Tornado damage in northeast Georgia

Apparent tornadoes caused damage in Hall and Jackson counties Tuesday afternoon. Officials in Hall say two elementary schools sustained roof damage, but no injuries were reported. In nearby Jackson County, high winds damaged about 40 mobile homes in the city of Commerce--two people were injured there.

'Big rain storm' marches west

Bands of heavy rain continued to march west across South Georgia this afternoon, as Tropical Storm Faye turned out to be the "big rain storm" that forecasters expected. After two days of waiting with overcast skies and only spotty rain on Wednesday and Thursday, Friday's worst in the Savannah area brought spotty power outages, localized flooding, some traffic tie-ups and downed tree limbs.

Possible tornadoes spotted this morning by National Weather Service doppler radar in counties north of Savannah, including Effingham, Bulloch, Jenkins and Screven Counties, did not result in calls to emergency services, those services reported this afternoon. Roads were clear and "all quiet here" was the going phrase among emergency services personnel contacted by GPB.

Today, residents in the Savannah area awoke to no power. As many as 9,000 people were without power at the height of an early morning outage, but crews restored power to most before noon. Tybee Island and Savannah's Southside were the most effected. Georgia Power brought in extra crews, but didn't have to use them, because local crews were sufficient, company officials said.

Georgia's southern coast appears to be getting the heaviest rain. There were reports of some minor street flooding in St. Mary's, some traffic tie-ups on Interstate-95 and a lot of disruption in Jacksonville, where officials attributed several traffic fatalities to the storm. Officials in three South Georgia counties, Camden, Glynn and McIntosh, and officials at Valdosta city schools cancelled classes today for those safety reasons.

But even in South Georgia, the storm, so far, has been a bigger wait than anything. Lowndes County spokesman Paige Dukes said, "People in South Georgia are prepared for storms. They've been through this before. But, this is the longest we've had to wait for a storm." Fay made landfall in the Florida Keys on August 15.

Fay still a threat to Georgia--update

Flooding and high winds are still conditions that could impact coastal Georgia over the next several hours into Friday.

State emergency officials are watching the movement of Tropical storm Fay closely. Ken Davis of the Georgia Emergency Management Agency says they’ve received new estimates on a storm track and possible rainfall.

"By midnight perhaps it might be enough inland and start impacting and providing rain to some of our southern tier of counties...and probably midnight Saturday or so, it might be over by Chattahoochee River. Possible amounts of maybe 4-8 inches of rain along the bottom tier of counties...3-6 maybe a little more inland and isolated areas. And there’s a remote or low possibility of isolated tornadoes as this thing moves inland".

Davis says emergency officials with several southeast Georgia counties were on a GEMA conference call this morning for the latest.

How the storm turns may affect school closures for Friday. Systems in Camden and McIntosh counties were closed today.

Funds for storm-damaged county

Cherokee County residents affected by severe weather and tornadoes now are eligible to receive federal aid. The help comes from the U.S. Small Business Administration. Earlier, the Federal Emergency Management Agency turned down the county's request for aid to cover uninsured victims because it did not meet federal requirements. The tornado on May 20 caused about $3 million in uninsured damage.

Georgia officials hunting "storm-chaser" contractors

One of the results of the EF-2 tornado that plowed through Macon on May 11th: a resident salvages belongings in a demolished building in the city's business district. (Josephine Bennet)

The State of Georgia is cracking down on “fly-by-night” contractors who don't take proper care of their workers.

The State Board of Workers' Compensation arrested several subcontractors in Macon and the Bibb County area this week.

The collars are part of a sweep to enforce state laws requiring employers to insure their crews.

Stan Bexley heads the board's enforcement division:

“As a result of the sweep thus far, we've had five criminal warrants issued, three arrests have been made and seven premium fraud cases have been opened for further investigation.”

Bexley warns homeowners to watch out for so-called “storm-chasers,” who arrive after bad weather, do shoddy repairs with substandard parts, and then take off without guaranteeing their work.

SBWC officials are focusing on areas that were hard-hit by a string of tornadoes on May 11th that caused several million dollars in damage.

More information is available at the SBWC website.http://tiny.cc/aB1bT.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the damages caused by the tornadoes.

FEMA to close some state disaster centers

Seven disaster recovery centers set-up by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the wake of recent spring tornadoes will be closing this weekend. Centers closing include in Darien, Dublin and Dry Branch. Those in Macon, Wrightsville and Carrollton will remain open for the time being. Residents in 10 affected counties can still apply for federal help until July 22nd to get assistance with things like temporary housing and home repairs.

Federal tornado-disaster aid approved

More than $600,000 in federal disaster aid has been approved for state residents affected by tornadoes that ripped through the state Mother’s Day weekend.

Federal officials say over 3-thousand victims of the storms have filed for various forms of assistance. The storms of May 11th and 12th killed 3 people, and caused more than 125-million dollars in damage.

Governor Sonny Perdue declared a state of emergency in 13 counties.

Perdue asks Bush for disaster declaration

Governor Sonny Perdue on Wednesday requested that President George Bush declare Cherokee County a major disaster area.

Perdue says such a declaration will assist residents and local governments with emergency response measures and aid for losses from the severe weather and tornadoes on May 20, according to a statement from the Governor's Office:

“This is the third tornado event this spring that has disrupted the lives of our citizens and devastated one of our communities,” Perdue said.

“I am hopeful that our federal partners will recognize the extent of this damage and will render the appropriate assistance to help the residents of Cherokee County recover in the aftermath of this severe weather.”

Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) officials estimate initial governmental response and clean up efforts will exceed $2.9 million, the statement said.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the storms and tornadoes that have repeatedly struck the state in recent weeks.