Tornadoes hit south Georgia; flooding in Atlanta

Posted 6:08PM on Wednesday 25th December 2002 ( 22 years ago )

LEESBURG - Heavy rain and tornadoes damaged homes in southwest Georgia, and minor flooding hit the Atlanta area as storms moved across the state Tuesday. Gov. Roy Barnes declared a state of emerergency in two of the hardest hit counties, Early and Lee, where more than a dozen homes sustained major damage and an additional 38 homes had minor damage from tornadoes. The declaration allows state resources to be used to help affected counties. In Leesburg, about 10 miles north of Albany, roofs were torn from several homes and neighbors gathered to help the handful of families who had to leave home on Christmas Eve. ``The fact that it's Christmas Eve makes it doubly bad,'' said Ty Bettis, who was pitching in to help a neighbor in an affluent neighborhood where pine trees snapped in half and crashed into homes. Another neighbor, Mark Slappey, pointed to a home with parts of the roof gone. Lumber and nails littered the front yard, and pieces of insulation were scattered across the roof. ``Thank the Lord no one was hurt,'' Slappey said. Lee County Fire Chief Joe Pollock said the storm caused no injuries. But one person was hurt by storms in nearby Early County, where two mobile homes were damaged, said Georgia Emergency Management Agency spokesman Buzz Weiss. The National Weather Service reported at least three tornadoes Tuesday morning, in the areas of Albany, Blakely and Sylvester in southwest Georgia. The worst tornado damage was in southeast Alabama, where at least eight people received minor injuries after an apparent tornado knocked out power lines, damaged at least four mobile homes and turned over small airplanes at an air field. North Georgia received heavy rains, swelling creeks and causing a rash of wrecks in the light morning rush hour. Several motorists were stranded in waist-high water, while authorities were warning drivers to avoid bridges over surging creeks just north of Atlanta. Flash flood warnings were issued for Atlanta and neighboring DeKalb and Cobb counties. At one intersection in north Atlanta, a car was nearly submerged after a nearby creek spilled over after more than 2 inches of rain fell. Peachtree and Sope creeks also flooded, although no injuries were reported. The storms caused only minor delays at Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport. Officials said the flights were running on time by 8:30 a.m. Forecasters said Tuesday's rain could make a sizable dent in a rainfall deficit that currently stands at about 2.5 inches for the year. Some areas had received that much rain before breakfast. The Weather Service said the rain would taper off late Tuesday, leaving cloudy skies and cool temperatures for Christmas Day.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/12/186259