An EF-1 tornado with wind speeds up to 100 mph tore through Walton County on Wednesday night, the National Weather Service confirmed.
Walton County EMA Director Brian Burgamy told Channel 2 Action News that five structures, including homes, were damaged in Social Circle and four appear to be a total loss. The damage was in the 1400 block of Fairplay Road.
The storm toppled several large trees in the front and back of Edward Long’s home, Channel 2 reported. Three landed on his house, nearly trapping Long and his 94-year-old grandmother inside.
“We got the warning over the phone,” Long told the news station. “Thirty seconds later it goes from calm to total chaos.”
Long and his grandmother were able to make it out of the house without injuries. Tim Peters, another Social Circle resident, said the tornado spared his house.
“We might have lost roofs, and we may have had property damage, and we might have had power lines down, but we didn’t have no loss of life,” Peters said.
Burgamy said the Red Cross is helping two families whose homes suffered damage.
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