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EF2 tornado in Baker County, Georgia

Tornado March 1, 2007 – March 2, 2007 · Baker County, Georgia

EF2
Rating
14.8 mi
Path length
200 yd
Path width
6
Deaths
3
Injuries
$1.2M
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 200 yards (0.11 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

An EF-2 tornado touched down in rural Baker County west of Newton, then traveled rapidly northeast, and caused extensive damage to a mobile home park a mile north of Newton. Six people died and three were injured when their mobile homes were demolished by the tornado. A church was destroyed on State Highway 37 a few miles west of Newton. GEMA and FEMA damage assessments determined ten minor damaged homes, nine major damaged homes, and 18 destroyed homes. The tornado crossed into northern Mitchell County north of Baconton. A state of emergency was declared by the Governor.

The wider storm

Severe thunderstorms developed during the afternoon of March 1 ahead of advancing warm front across southwest Georgia, producing several reports of wind damage. Later that evening into the predawn hours of March 2, a squall line formed ahead of a cold front, with several reports of wind damage and tornadoes across portions of southwest and south central Georgia. One of the tornadoes tore through a mobile home park just north of Newton, killing six and injuring three.

Began near Newton (31.3200, -84.4485).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

7 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 22275. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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