An EF1 tornado with 95-mph winds touched down briefly last week in southern Bartow County, the National Weather Service said late Tuesday.
Local authorities said three people were injured during the storm, and no one was killed. The damage in neighboring Polk County was caused by a “significant downburst” rather than a tornado, the Weather Service confirmed.
Several powerful storms moved through the region Thursday night and Friday morning, leaving a path of destruction in both northwest Georgia counties and in Coweta, south of Atlanta. Homes and businesses were damaged, trees were uprooted and power lines were toppled in all three counties, but the storm that hit Coweta was the strongest.
The Weather Service categorized it as an EF4 tornado with up to 170-mph winds.
The storm played a role in one death in Coweta, where 56-year-old Barry Martin died after suffering an apparent heart attack. Roads blocked with debris delayed paramedics’ response to the man. No other serious injuries were attributed to the storms, according to county leaders.
The tornado touched down about 11:30 p.m. in western Heard County and carved a 39-mile path through Heard, Fayette and Coweta counties, the Weather Service said. The downtown Newnan area was the hardest hit, and Newnan High School sustained significant damage when the tornado blew through just after midnight.
“The original high school building was built in 1888 with brick walls and sturdy stone and woodwork, yet the only wall failure was to a portion of the second-story brick wall near the front of the main campus building,” the Weather Service wrote in a preliminary report.
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Earlier Thursday, a storm rolled through the Cedartown area in Polk, bringing 105-mph winds, according to the Weather Service. Damage was reported at a cemetery and Cedartown High School during the storm, which hit around 12:30 p.m.
“Numerous homes in the area sustained wind damage to their roofs due to downed trees and or shingle damage from the strong winds,” meteorologists said.
The tornado that hit Bartow touched down briefly about 9 p.m. on the northwest side of Taylorsville, reaching peak winds of 95 mph. Trees were uprooted near a school along Euharlee Street and a large tree fell onto a cabin on the eastern side of the road, according to the Weather Service.
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