40 tornadoes ripped through Georgia in two days
The National Weather Service, which has been on the ground since severe storms killed 16 people in South Georgia and five more across the Deep South, has completed its survey and discovered 40 tornadoes tore through the state over a two-day period.
“NWS storm surveys have concluded and 40 tornadoes have been confirmed for the state of GA during the Jan 21-22 tornado outbreak,” the agency said Monday afternoon in a Twitter post.
NWS storm surveys have concluded and 40 #tornadoes have been confirmed for the state of GA during the Jan 21-22 tornado outbreak. #GAWX pic.twitter.com/eJW0eDsA5A
— NWS Atlanta (@NWSAtlanta) January 30, 2017
That is double the state’s annual average of 20 tornadoes.
Other killer storms in recent years:
- March 27, 1994: 18 were killed on Palm Sunday in the Floyd County area.
- March 20, 1998: 14 were killed in Hall and White counties.
- April 8, 1998: Seven were killed in and around Dunwoody city in DeKalb, and in Cobb, Fulton and Gwinnett counties.
- Feb. 14, 2000: 19 were killed in Southwest Georgia/Mitchell County,Grady County, Colquitt County.
- March 20, 2003: Six were killed in southwestern Georgia.
- March 1, 2007: Six were killed in Newton.
- March 14, 2008: One was killed in Atlanta.
- April 27, 2011: Ringgold and Cedartown reported 15 deaths.
- January 2013: One was killed in Adairsville.
The strongest of the most recent tornadoes, an EF-3, hit Albany and other parts of south Georgia with peak winds of 150 mph, the NWS said.
Five people were killed in the EF-3 tornado that struck east Albany on Jan. 22, Dougherty County Coroner Michael Fowler told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Seven people died at a mobile home park in Adel, Cook County Coroner Tim Purvis said. And Berrien and Brooks counties each reported two deaths, officials told The AJC.
RELATED: A look at the victims
Officials still have not found a missing Albany toddler who slipped away from his mother as the storm hit about 3 p.m. Sunday. Cadaver dogs and aerial and ground searches have yielded negative results in the search for 2-year-old Detrez Green, the county said.
