EF2 Tornado — Bulloch, Georgia

2017-02-09 · near Stilson, Bulloch, Georgia

Event narrative

A National Weather Service storm survey team confirmed a tornado that tracked from southeastern Bulloch County to southwest Effingham County in Georgia on 02/09/2017. The tornado tracked east-southeast approximately 9 miles southeast of Brooklet, GA to Pineora, GA.

The tornado began near Stillson Leefield Road, in Bulloch County, GA. Most of the damage within the first few miles of the event was due to many snapped and uprooted trees.

The most significant damage occurred near the center of the path, in an area just west of South Old River Road to near Terrell Road, in Bulloch County, GA. There were several mobile homes along this portion of the path that were either completely destroyed, or severely damaged. The extent of damage to the mobile homes was the reason for the high end EF2 rating with estimated maximum wind speeds up to 130 mph. Two mobile homes just north of Little Hagan Road were completely destroyed, being flipped and tossed 30 to 40 feet from their foundations. One of the mobile homes in this area was not occupied, but the other one had five people inside, plus pets. All five were injured, one seriously, with broken bones in their neck. Two pets in the same mobile home survived, but one died from its injuries. There was also a car pushed 20 to 30 feet and a large metal trucking container, weighing approximately 9,000 pounds, pushed about 50 feet.

Continuing about 200 yards southeast along the path, a single family home sustained moderate damage, mainly from projectiles and debris hitting it from the mobile homes upstream. A large carport/overhang was completely torn from the home, which then

fell on and damaged 3 cars. A large hole was punched through the north wall of the home from debris hitting the window and pushing into the home. Otherwise, some minor shingle damage was observed, with 20-30% of the shingles missing.

Another 200 yards southeast of this home was another mobile home that was severely damaged. It was lifted and rolled 30 to 40 feet off of its foundation, crushing 2 cars before coming to rest on the edge of a bluff. There were 2 people severely injured in this home with one pet injured.

The tornado then continued across the Ogeechee River into Effingham County.

Wider weather episode

Strongly forced, organized convection ahead of a vigorous upper trough and associated cold front advanced into a marginally unstable environment featuring strong winds and wind shear. A single, persistent supercell within the environment tracked across Candler and Bulloch Counties before producing a tornado in eastern Bulloch and western Effingham Counties.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (32.3400, -81.5600)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 679321. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.