"The heavy winds caused many trees and power lines to fall," Lt. Scott Dakin of Barrow County Fire & EMS said. "The wind also caused damage to several buildings."
This included extensive damage to the Barrow County Administration Office.
"A large portion of the roof was ripped off the building by the heavy winds," Lt. Dakin said. "This of course created some flooding in the building as well."
The damage to the building is still being investigated.
The Barrow County Health Department which is housed in the county building was also affected. Employees have already begun assessing the damage and moving equipment and supplies to drier conditions.
"This will be a long process to clean up and repair," Dakin said. "The extent of the damage will not been known for several more hours."
Two homes in Barrow County were damaged by falling trees also. No one was injured in any of these incidents.
Dakin said that from midnight until 3:00 Tuesday morning firefighters responded to 30 downed trees, 15 calls for power lines down, two incidents in which vehicles were hit by falling trees, several fire alarms and one structure fire.
As the storm moved in, the fire department opened the county's Emergency Operation Center and manned it with Chief Dennis Merrifield, Interim Deputy Chief John Skinner, Lieutenant Heath Williams and Penny Clack.
"Citizens are advised to use caution when driving today due to the amount of debris still on the roads," Lt. Dakin said. "There are still trees down around the county and with the heavy winds still happening more trees and power lines may fall. We also want to advise that Highway 11 from the City of Winder to Punkin Junction Road is closed due to multiple power poles that were damaged and will remain closed for several hours."
http://accesswdun.com/article/2011/4/237685