EF2 Tornado — Stewart, Georgia

2019-03-03 · near Sanford, Stewart, Georgia

Event narrative

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].

Wider weather episode

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.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (31.9539, -84.9644)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 810639. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.