Volunteers out in force helping clean up hard-hit Lamar County

By Mike Morris

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Members of the Georgia State Defense Force were out in force Saturday in a rural area north of Barnesville that was decimated by a deadly EF3 tornado early Thursday, providing security and coordinating volunteer clean-up efforts.

Mike Morris, mmorris@ajc.com An American flag is tied to the splintered stump of a tree outside the Lamar County home where Paul and Ellen Gunter died in a tornado that struck just before 1 a.m. on Thursday.

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Volunteers arrived by the dozens, and were bused into the hardest-hit area where Paul Gunter, 73, and his 63-year-old wife, Ellen, died in the storm.

Among the volunteers was a group of 10 teenagers from Griffin First United Methodist Church.

“On Thursday, one of our youth girls had called and wanted to do something to help,” said group leader Allyson Lawrence. “I talked to a friend of mine, and he was able to hook us up with some of his friends that live down here, and they just need a lot of help.”

Douglas Jefferson of the State Defense Force gave the group instructions on the bus shuttling them from a command post on U.S. 41 to the heart of the twister's 30-mile path through Lamar, Pike, Monroe and Butts counties.

“You all know we’re going to be helping to move debris?” Jefferson asked.

“Be mindful in the area you’re working in,” said Jefferson, who works at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport when not volunteering with the Defense Force.

“Be cautious, be careful, but be proud too that you’re a part of this to help these families and folks that are in need,” Jefferson said. “Now let’s get to it.”

Investigators believe the Gunters were in bed when their home was demolished. They were found among debris in their back yard.

The couple not only cared for Paul Gunter's 95-year-old father, they also had an 8-year-old adopted daughter, Chloe. Both of them survived, though a family member said the girl suffered a broken shoulder and cuts to her face.

* Complete list of storm victims