Storms Strike College, Leave Trail Of Damage In Georgia, Across South

Daybreak Tuesday revealed widespread damage after a night of violent weather in the Deep South, with a college campus shattered by an apparent tornado and thousands of buildings and vehicles battered by hail as large as baseballs.

Damage In Georgia

Thousands of Georgians are without power and homes were heavily damaged southwest of Atlanta after storms struck late Monday and into Tuesday morning.

The National Weather Service said it would send survey crews to the Georgia city of Haralson and to south Fulton County to investigate whether tornadoes caused the damage.

In Haralson, about 40 miles southwest of Atlanta, the Haralson County School District said schools would be closed Tuesday due to storm damage “throughout our community.”

Much of the damage in Fulton County was in Fairburn, about 20 miles southwest of Atlanta.

Georgia Power reported that about 8,000 customers were without power Tuesday morning statewide, with more than 2,000 of them in the Haralson area. Separately, Georgia’s electric cooperatives said power was interrupted for 13,000 customers.

In one neighborhood near Atlanta, “it looks like someone did a bombing run down the street,” Georgia’s insurance commissioner, Ralph Hudgens, said after touring the scene Tuesday. Multiple homes were destroyed in the subdivision southwest of Atlanta, he said.

“I talked to people who were in bed when it hit, and they huddled in the bathroom with the Bible, praying,” Hudgens said. “They put the Bible against the door and they put the children in the tub. They held hands and prayed and asked the Lord to protect them. Nothing happened to them but the house was totally destroyed.”

‘I Thought We Were Gone’

The area around Jacksonville State University was among the hardest hit as storms swept across the South, part of a large system that prompted tornado warnings Monday in Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia.

Using couch cushions for protection, Richard Brasher hid in the bathtub with his wife, daughter and two grandchildren as the storm passed near the college. The roar was terrifying, said Brasher, 60.

“I thought we were gone,” he said. “It happened so fast.”

Several shelters opened, schools were closed, trees and power lines were down, and Jacksonville State advised people to avoid traveling near campus Tuesday morning. Most students were away for spring break.

Part of the roof was ripped off the nursing school and Pete Mathews Coliseum, the basketball arena. Pieces of lumber and bent metal covered the ground along with insulation that looked like yellow cotton candy.

To the west in Cullman, the lots of automobile dealerships were full of cars and trucks that no longer had windows. The sheriff shared a photo of a county jail bombarded by hail but said the prisoners were fine.

Schools were closed in several counties because of damage. Alabama Power Co. said more than 9,000 homes and businesses were without electricity.

Crews Look At Damage

Forecasters had warned that the storms would threaten more than 29 million people, raising the risk of powerful tornadoes, damaging winds and hail the size of tennis balls.

Cities in northern Alabama reported power outages and the National Weather Service in Huntsville reported at least three confirmed tornadoes in the area.

Officials suspected a tornado was to blame for the damage in Jacksonville, where Brasher said he was standing in his hall when the kitchen windows exploded.

With electrical transformers exploding and trees crashing down all around, Brasher said, it felt like wind “picked up and shook the whole house.”

“We were scared to death. It blew the paint off my house,” Brasher said.

The National Weather Service said five teams were out in Alabama assessing storm damage.

Forecasters say it would be a rough day for cleaning up. Highs were predicted in the lower 50s, and wind gusts as strong as 30 mph were likely, along with rain. Dense fog shrouded some areas Tuesday morning.

More Communities Face Threat

Forecasters say a storm system that battered Alabama and Georgia will threaten a large part of the Florida and coastal communities in Georgia and the Carolinas on Tuesday.

The national Storm Prediction Center says much of north Florida and the entire Georgia and South Carolina coasts will be at an “enhanced” risk for severe storms, which could include damaging winds, large hail and a few tornadoes.

A small part of the North Carolina coastline is also included in the area most likely to see severe weather.

The area most at risk is heavily populated, with more than 10 million people and major Florida cities such as Jacksonville, Tampa and Orlando; Savannah, Georgia; and Charleston, South Carolina.

Forecasters said storms could strike some communities Tuesday morning, and others Tuesday afternoon and evening.