DEL.ICIO.USThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 03/18/08
Grieving family and friends resumed the grim task Monday of searching for dozens of dogs missing after a Saturday afternoon tornado killed dog breeder Bonnie Turner, injured her husband and demolished their home and prized kennel.
Searchers said they have found about 30 dead American hairless terriers and rat terriers scattered across the couple's 86-acre property, which straddles Floyd and Polk counties, not far from the Alabama border. They buried some Monday.
 Andy Sharp/AJC |
| Debbie Jackson searches through what remains of Mike and Bonnie Turner's home, flattened by a tornado Saturday. Bonnie Turner, 63, a dog breeder, was killed. So were about 30 terriers. Debbie Jackson is married to Tim Jackson, Bonnie Turner's nephew. |
 Andy Sharp/AJC |
| Relatives pick through the rubble and find United Kennel Club ribbons, as searchers locate dozens of dead dogs. |
More than 60 were missing, including one that family members said was highly rated nationally in the breed. Eight have been found alive.
Bonnie Turner, 63, a retired veterinary assistant, died when the EF-3 tornado, stronger than the EF-2 that ran through downtown Atlanta, plowed through their living room and threw the couple 50 yards. Mike Turner, 65, a Lockheed Martin retiree, had surgery Monday in Chattanooga for a shattered pelvis.
The tornado touched down at 12:25 p.m. Saturday northwest of Aragon and traveled 16 miles across parts of Polk, Floyd and Bartow counties before lifting southwest of Cartersville 20 minutes later, according to the National Weather Service. Winds reached 150 mph. One other person was killed — Jerry Albers, 71, of Floyd County — and three were injured.
At least 20 homes were destroyed, and hundreds of other structures suffered damage.
The Turners' daughter, Kelly Parkman, said her mother was well-known because of the breed she specialized in.
"She knows people all round the world because of her trying to hook people up with dogs they could love," said Parkman, an elementary teacher from Fairmount.
The family picked up the surviving dogs from a local veterinarian Monday, said Jeff Crawford, Polk's animal control director, who helped get them treatment. Several suffered broken legs.
"They were terrified. A majority of them were in shock," Crawford said. "They were just glad somebody was there to take care of them."
Relatives picked through the rubble of the Turners' flattened two-story home Monday, collecting family photos, insurance papers and mementos. Among the debris were many green, red and blue United Kennel Club ribbons and wheels from the miniature tractors Mike Turner collected.
The tornado also flattened a workshop and barn. Little resembling a home remains.
The Turners were talking to relatives on the phone shortly before the tornado hit, saying they were about to take shelter in a stairwell, nephew Tim Jackson said as he surveyed the damage. They had no basement or cellar to take cover in, Jackson said.
"Mike has no memory other than they were fixing to take shelter in the stairway and the next thing he remembers is being out in the pasture," Jackson said. What is left of the chain-link fence from the kennel lies twisted and stretched out into a nearby pond. Fish were sucked from the water and thrown into the pasture, Jackson said.
The winds were so powerful they uprooted huge trees and tossed the Turners' white van hundreds of yards away.
"And there is a [Honda] CR-V," Jackson said. "We don't know where that is at."
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