‘You could hear it coming’: 1 dead as ‘catastrophic’ tornado hits south of Atlanta

Storms that rolled through North Georgia late Thursday into Friday left a path of destruction, killing one person and injuring others. Most of metro Atlanta was spared from major damage, but Bartow and Polk counties ― in northwest Georgia ― and Coweta County south of Atlanta took the brunt of the impact. Late Friday, the National Weather Service said it was an EF4 tornado with 170-mph winds that hit Coweta.

Coweta firefighters and police officers worked in the dark to rescue people trapped in their homes and clear roads after a powerful storm slammed the area. Daylight gave emergency crews a look at the damage, summed up in one word: catastrophic.

“It’s clear it was a tornado that went through here last night,” Keith Stellman, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said late Friday morning.

When their building was in the path of the storm, even 911 operators had no choice but to seek shelter.

Coweta fire Chief Pat Wilson said Friday afternoon it was a “miracle” that only one death was reported. No life-threatening injuries were reported.

“It could have been a lot worse,” he said.

Gov. Brian Kemp said Friday he plans to tour Coweta on Saturday. Early Friday, Kemp signed an executive order allowing state resources to assist with damage assessment and cleanup.

Investigators believe the man who was killed, whose name was not released, suffered a medical emergency during the storm. But trees and debris slowed efforts to reach him, Wilson said.

The city of Newnan, including the historic district and Newnan High School area, was hit especially hard. The damage continued along Smokey Road in the western part of the county, leaders said during a news conference Friday.

Near the downtown square, a 120-year-old colonial belonging to Chuck and Van Landrum took a pummeling when several huge oak trees crashed into the East Broad Street home. Van Landrum said she was thrown to the foot of her bed by the sheer force of the storm. It likely saved her life, she said.

“The tree landed right where my head would’ve been if I had stayed laying down,” she said.

Her husband, Chuck Landrum, said his guardian angel has been working overtime. In 2020, almost a year to the day, Landrum, a College Park police officer, was shot in the neck while pursuing a suspect.

Credit: John Spink

Credit: John Spink

Bartow County fire Chief Dwayne Jamison said three people were injured when the storms hit north of Cartersville. Two of those were taken to a hospital by ambulance. A Texaco station on Old Grassdale Road was ripped to pieces, he said.

In Polk County, Charles Bergeron said the storm blew the roof off his family’s home. He used a mattress to protect his 4-year-old son, Vincent.

“He was terrified,” Bergeron said.

Minutes later, it was over. Bergeron said Friday the house had no electricity.

Gas and power crews were working to restore service to customers Friday after toppled trees brought down power lines and utility poles. At one point Friday afternoon, Georgia Power said about 7,000 customers were without electricity. The Coweta-Fayette EMC estimated there were at least 30 broken poles, and shortly after 6 p.m., just over 1,000 of the utility’s customers were without power. Neighboring EMCs assisted with repairs.

Coweta schools Superintendent Evan Horton and Principal Chase Puckett walked the Newnan High campus, where buildings had extensive damage.

“It’s heartbreaking. This school’s been here 133 years,” Puckett said. “The first thing I thought of was how hard these teachers have worked through a pandemic and how far we’ve come as a community. My first reaction driving up here is this community is strong, our school system is strong. Our students are phenomenal. But it’s heartbreaking.”

All Coweta, Bartow, Polk, Floyd and Rome City schools were closed Friday.

Michael Terrell, Coweta county’s emergency management director, said the “catastrophic storm” left numerous trees down and roads blocked. Neighboring fire departments assisted with the efforts.

The county’s 911 center was also damaged, forcing operators and responders to go to a backup system, including pen and paper, Terrell said. At one point, the operators themselves were in the path of the storm.

“I can’t do anything if my operators aren’t safe,” Terrell said.

Neighboring counties assisted with answering 911 calls during the storm. Terrell said he was hopeful that Coweta’s emergency response system would be fully operational by late Friday.

The American Red Cross was also called in and a makeshift shelter was set up at Evans Middle School for those whose homes were damaged, Terrell said. Three families were at the school Friday afternoon, he said.

Outside Wright’s house, neighbors checked on each other after the tornado rolled through. She was relieved her neighbors weren’t injured. Wright said a friend had offered her and her children a place to stay temporarily.

“I know a lot of people lost materialistic things,” Wright said. “But at the end of the day, as long as everyone is still breathing, that is what matters.”

— Staff writer Chelsea Prince and photojournalist Christina Matacotta contributed to this article.

HOW TO HELP

The Newnan Police Department said Friday it was overwhelmed by the donations of water and non-perishable food items. Donations will be accepted Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at The Newnan Center, located at 1515 Lower Fayetteville Road in Newnan.

The Red Cross is also accepting donations. Call, click or text to give: visit redcross.org, call 1-800 RED CROSS or text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.