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EF2 tornado in Stewart County, Georgia

Tornado March 3, 2019 · Stewart County, Georgia

EF2
Rating
30.9 mi
Whole path
860 yd
Path width
$415K
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Barbour County, Alabama → Quitman County → Stewart County → Webster County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 860 yards (0.49 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

A National Weather Service survey found that an EF2 tornado with maximum wind speeds of 125 mph and a maximum path width of 860 yards moved into Stewart County from Quitman County along Bladen Creek west of Bethel Church Road. The tornado crossed mainly forested areas with numerous large trees snapped or uprooted. The tornado moved east crossing Foreman Branch and Hodchodkee Creek before reaching Wesley Chapel Road, downing numerous trees along its path. As the tornado approached the intersection of John Logan Road and Philadelphia Road, it reached EF2 intensity destroying multiple large metal-framed barns and moving several large pieces of farming equipment, including a cotton picker. In addition, a single-family home had its entire roof and most exterior walls pulled apart. Inside, a family of two with 3 dogs survived the tornado in their hallway with no major injuries reported. Just east of John Logan Road, several campers were flipped over and destroyed. There were no reports of injuries with the campers. The tornado continued moving east crossing Highway 27 uprooting or snapping numerous trees. To the east, along County Road 145, hundreds of large trees were uprooted or snapped. As the tornado continued eastward, it began to weaken but still damaged numerous trees between County Road 148 and Goodwins

Pond Road as it approached the Webster County line. [03/03/19: Tornado #14, County #1/2, EF2, Stewart, 2019:019].

The wider storm

A powerful storm system moved across the mid-south and southeast United States producing widespread severe weather and numerous tornadoes. In middle Georgia, significant damage from fourteen separate tornadoes was observed. Thousands of trees were snapped or uprooted and numerous homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed. Across central Georgia, incredibly, no deaths were reported, with only around a dozen minor injuries.

Began near Sanford (31.9539, -84.9644).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 810639. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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