EF1 Tornado — Clay, Georgia

2017-04-05 · near Ricks Place, Clay, Georgia

Event narrative

The tornado touched down in extreme southeastern Barbour County in the White Oak community producing EF1 damage on White Oak Drive. The tornado then crossed Sandy Creek into Henry County's White Oak subdivision producing mostly EF1 damage across the entire width of the neighborhood between Sandy Creek and White Oak Creek. However, a double-wide manufactured home on Laurel Drive was shifted about 8 feet despite being strapped to the ground by 2 to 3 foot anchors which were completely pulled from the ground. This justified EF2 damage in this location with winds estimated at 115 mph. The tornado then crossed the Walter F. George Reservoir, also known as Lake Eufaula, into the state of Georgia with EF1 damage on the eastern shore of the lake along County Road 28. The tornado came ashore at the Quitman-Clay County line producing damage in both counties primarily in the form of uprooted trees. The trees damaged several homes. Debris from a lakeside porch was lofted and deposited on the opposite side of the home and strewn across an adjacent field. The tornado continued northeastward across rural Quitman County hitting the Self Family Farm on Self Road. The tornado did significant damage to the roof of a well constructed brick home, removing the majority of the roof. The walls of a brick outbuilding collapsed. There were also numerous trees snapped or uprooted adjacent to the home, two of which were debarked. This damage was consistent with EF2 winds of about 115 mph. Just northeast of the house, an irrigation pivot was toppled with the northern portion falling toward the southwest and the southern portion falling in the opposite direction. The tornado continued northeast across more rural areas causing EF1 damage to trees on County Road 82 before lifting shortly thereafter.

Wider weather episode

Severe weather during the first week of April resulted in a couple of tornadoes and several reports of hail and straight line wind damage across the tri-state area.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (31.7743, -85.1335)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 680144. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.