GEMA: South Georgia Tornado Landed For Over An Hour
AP Photo/Branden Camp
Sixteen south Georgia counties are under a state disaster declaration after strong storms killed at least 15 people and wrecked neighborhoods over the weekend.
The storms came in three phases, each one stronger than the previous one, said Georgia Emergency Management Agency director Homer Bryson.
“The last one had a tornado that was on the ground for over an hour – massive tornado – that covered four counties,” Bryson said. “A lot of damage, a lot of devastation.”
Gov. Nathan Deal said investigators from the Federal Emergency Management Agency are on the ground in south Georgia assessing damage from the storms that killed at least 15 people over the weekend.
That’s one step that’s necessary before the state can ask for federal assistance.
Deal said he spoke with President Donald Trump on Sunday about the storms, and expects FEMA to act fast on the state’s request for help.
“I assured him that we felt we were going to be in the process of making an assessment, and that we would be submitting a request for federal emergency assistance,” Deal said. “I think with the president’s personal input into that, they will process it very quickly.”
Two of the counties included in the state’s disaster declaration – Dougherty and Mitchell – were already in a declared disaster, following severe storms New Year’s weekend.
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