Strong Wind — Glascock, Georgia

2009-01-07 · Glascock, Georgia

Event narrative

The News and Farmer Jefferson Reporter of neighboring Jefferson county reported that strong winds blew a tree over onto a mobile home on Railroad Avenue in Gibson. The tree fell through the roof of the home trapping a woman and her 3-year old boy in a recliner where they had been watching television. Although rescue personnel were able to remove them from under the tree, the woman suffered a broken hip.

Wider weather episode

A strong cold front swept through north and central Georgia in the wake of the storm system that brought substantial rain and some severe weather to the area on the 6th. Strong northwest winds developed early in the day across the northern sections of the state and continued well into the afternoon. The strong gradient wind gusts of 35 to 45 mph blew down a number of trees and some power lines in north Georgia counties and resulted in at least two minor injuries. The strongest winds accompanied a line of showers along the cold front that moved through north and central Georgia at midday. Below is a summary of wind speeds observed from airport and University of Georgia mesonet stations, as well as a list of reported damages by county.

Winder, (Barrow county) - 44 mph, Macon (Bibb county) - 45 mph, Athens (Clarke county) - 36 mph, Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and Jonesboro (Clayton) - 38 and 35 mph, respectively, Kennesaw and Marietta (Cobb county) - 39 and 40 mph, respectively, Chamblee (DeKalb county) - 37 mph, Unadilla and Vienna (Dooly county) - 47 and 40 mph, respectively, Peachtree City (Fayette) - 38 mph, Rome (Floyd county) - 33 mph, Blue Ridge (Fannin county) - 46 mph, Calhoun (Gordon county) - 36 mph, Gainesville (Hall county) - 43 mph, Roopville (Heard county) - 37 mph, Warner Robins (Houston county) - 41 mph, Dublin (Laurens county) - 35 mph, Dahlonega (Lumpkin county) - 46 mph, Columbus (Muscogee county) - 38 mph, Covington (Newton county) - 44 mph, Watkinsville (Oconee county) - 47 mph, Fort Valley and Byron (Peach county) - 42 and 35 mph, respectively, Eatonton (Putnam county) - 38 mph, Griffin (Spalding county) - 36 mph, Plains (Sumter county) - 49 mph, Vidalia (Toombs county) - 41 mph, LaGrange (Troup county) - 38 mph, and LaFayette (Walker county) - 40 mph.

Banks county - Numerous trees and several power lines were down on roads across the county. Bibb county - Several trees and power lines were down across the county. Some traffic signals blown down. One tree was down on a vehicle. Clarke county - a number of trees, several power lines, and some traffic signals were down, especially in the city of Athens. DeKalb county - live power lines were knocked down onto a school bus carrying 30 elementary children. At least 5,000 people in the county were without power. Fulton county - a few trees and power lines were down within the county. Henry county - Four trees were down just north of McDonough. Jackson county - a power pole was blown onto a mobile home. The home was consequently set on fire. Jefferson - Strong winds blew a tree over onto a mobile home on Railroad Avenue in Gibson. The tree fell through the roof of the home trapping a woman and her 3-year old boy in a recliner where they had been watching television. Although rescue personnel were able to remove them from under the tree, the woman suffered a broken hip. Oglethorpe county - the canopy collapsed and destroyed two gas pumps at a convenience store on U.S. Highway 78. Two gas pumps were destroyed as a result. Whitfield county - a person was injured when struck in the head by a falling tree limb on LaFayette Road just southwest of Rocky Face. In addition, an unoccupied house was destroyed by a tree and at least five other trees were blown down within the county.

Scattered power outages from downed trees and power lines were also reported in Baldwin, Crawford, Houston, and Taylor counties. No specific damages were provided from these counties.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 150257. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.