Storm Damage Report for Dooly County's Good Friday Tornado

Good Friday (4/10/2009) was an interesting day for those of us with interests in south Georgia weather. On Saturday, I found evidence of an EF-1 tornado in Dooly County, GA.

My brother and parents were in Auburn, AL for an awards ceremony and left the university just before it was impacted by a tornadic thunderstorm. It literally chased them to Columbus, Ellaville, and into Vienna. I kept them updated with the "don't slow down or stop for anything but a quick $10 of gas" phrase and location of the storm (in their rear-view mirror). Not long (maybe 15 minutes) after arriving at home in eastern Dooly County, they experienced a near-miss with the tornadic t'storm passing just a few miles off to their south.

I did a damage survey of my parents' farm and the surrounding area of eastern Dooly County (about 5 miles from Vienna exit, off I-75) on Saturday. Selected pictures are attached, below. Minimal (barely visible) damage occurred to the family farm, namely mature trees pushed over and a handful of shinlges are missing (<1%).

The majority of damage occurred along and near Parham Road, and ran due east to GA Highway 257. We found three homes with moderate damage, mostly shingles being removed. The majority of the damage was EF-0 level (dependent on the Damage Indicators; see the EF-Scale description via NWS and TTU); however, one home suffered 30% shingle removal paired with hundreds of nearby trees snapped and pushed over towards the east. This is more likely EF-1, with expected winds up to 110mph.

A more formal damage asssessment was submitted to the NWS Peachtree City office and WFXL-TV.