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EF2 tornado in Thomas County, Georgia

Tornado February 19, 2009 · Thomas County, Georgia

EF2
Rating
16.4 mi
Whole path
400 yd
Path width
$11.0M
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Grady County → Thomas County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 400 yards (0.23 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF2 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF2 is considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, consistent with estimated gusts of 111–135 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

The tornado crossed from adjacent Grady County into Thomas County along Lower Cairo Road where it caused extensive damage to a pine forest plantation. Three homes on the south side of the tornado's path were damaged, with one home losing part of its roof. A barn and two garages were damaged or destroyed. Along its path toward U.S. Highway 319 and Cindy Road, numerous pine trees were snapped or uprooted and fell on homes. Brookwood School and its grounds sustained significant damage, including a hole in the roof of the main building. The tornado crossed U.S. Highway 319 near Metcalf Road and moved toward the Southwest Georgia State Hospital just south of Pinetree Boulevard. It snapped more pine trees and removed two air conditioning units from the roof of one of the hospital buildings. Another hospital building was heavily damaged. The tornado began to weaken as it approached U.S. Highway 19 south of Glen Arven Country Club, and crossed U.S. Highway 19 just south of Sunset Drive. Damage in this area was limited to power lines and a few trees. Before lifting, the tornado moved across County Farm Road at the Thomas County Landfill, where a storage building was damaged with debris blown several hundred yards. According to the Thomas County Emergency Management Agency, nine mobile homes were destroyed, 29 single family homes were destroyed, and a total of 170 structures were damaged. About 4,200 residents were without power. The Governor declared a state of emergency in Thomas County.

The wider storm

Just after midnight on the 19th, a long track supercell thunderstorm spawned an EF-2 tornado south of Cairo in Grady County. The tornado raced to the east into Thomas County, causing EF-2 damage just south of Thomasville. A second tornado developed and produced EF-3 damage near Boston.

Began near Homestead Park (30.8124, -84.0815).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

1 more tornado the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 154849. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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