Tornadoes touched down in multiple locations in Georgia such as LaGrange, West Point, Milledgeville, and Pine Mountain, leaving several people injured. This comes as severe storms have continued to pummel the southern US since last week and until Sunday, March 26. Latest weather forecast also warn of further destructive tornado outbreak across the state.
The twisters reportedly damaged houses and buildings, as well as caused power outages and left some residents trapped indoors. Weather authorities also issued tornado alerts, including watches and warnings, prior to the new tornadoes on Sunday morning, wherein EF4 or EF-4 tornadoes under the Enhanced Fujita scale (EF scale) were recorded.
The Georgia tornado outbreak came after President Joe Biden approved a declaration of emergency for affected residents who survived the deadly tornadoes in Mississippi, where it left 25 people dead, as well as another fatality in Alabama. The severe thunderstorms, which generates the twisters, are expected to spread across the said US region.
Georgia Tornado Outbreak
AccuWeather on Sunday evening reported that a likely tornado struck western Georgia earlier in the day, causing not only several injuries but also significant property damage.
In LaGrange, a city 65 miles southwest of Atlanta, Georgia, a radar picked up a "possible tornado" around 7:00 a.m. EDT (local time) while the storm system was moving east at 40 miles per hour.
It was only an hour later when multiple injuries from the storm was being reported by local emergency management, related reporting by CNN on Sunday afternoon showed at least three people were injured, as cited by AccuWeather.
A similar tornado incident occurred in West Point, a city about 15 miles southwest of La Grange, where reports of trapped individuals under collapsed houses emerged on Sunday morning after a tornado arrived through the city.
An unconfirmed report indicates the twister possibly struck a Kia vehicle assembly plant in West Point, where local authorities advised all crew members to take shelter ahead of the severe storm.
Tigers Escape Park
The intensity of the Georgia tornado not only caused widespread disruption to its residents but also to animal enclosures.
Officials at the Wild Animal Safari park in Pine Mountain stated through a Facebook post that its facility suffered from "extensive tornado damage," adding no animals or staff were injured but two tigers briefly escaped after several animal enclosures were breached, CNN reported. The large cats were recaptured and returned to a secured enclosure.
Georgia Tornado Alerts
The National Weather Service (NWS) issued tornado alerts for Georgia, where it advised residents of Macon, Linton, Beulah and Underwood, to "take cover now" due to life-threatening risks, as cited by ABC News.
As a result of the destruction, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp declared a state of emergency, as the Georgia twister was accompanied by torrential rain and flooding. Meanwhile, a tornado watch remains in effect for some areas of Georgia, as well as Alabama, on Sunday afternoon.
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