National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

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A strong upper level disturbance moved across the Ohio Valley on Friday, April 10, 2009, sweeping a cold front through Georgia late in the evening. Ahead of this front, a very warm and moist airmass was in place across the state, with temperatures rising into the mid and upper 70s. Strong southerly winds at the surface and strong westerly winds aloft combined with this unstable airmass to produce an outbreak of supercell thunderstorms beginning Friday afternoon across north Georgia, and spreading south and east across the state during the evening and into the early hours Saturday morning. Surveys conducted by meteorologists from the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Peachtree City, and county Emergency Management officials confirmed that at least 14 tornadoes occurred across north and central Georgia, Friday evening So far, no fatalities have been reported with these storms, and one serious injury was reported in Hancock County.

The images below show some of the damage caused by the Chattooga County tornado. The Chattooga County areas were surveyed by meteorologists from the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Peachtree City.

The tornado touched down in Chattooga county at 5:00 PM EDT in the Summerville area and caused considerable damage. Over 30 homes and 10 businesses were damaged, although most were minor damage. The majority of the damage occurred on Commerce Street. The brick wall of a car care center on Commerce Street collapsed. A single-wide mobile home was completely destroyed. The mobile home was anchored, but the metal frame was ripped from the foundation and the home tossed on its side. The roof was lifted and shifted on a lumber warehouse. Windows were blown out of a BarBeque restaurant as well. This EF2 tornado had a path length of 1 mile and a width of 200 yards, with maximum wind speeds of 120 MPH.

Other photos...

• Hancock County photos
• Chattahoochee County photos
• Pickens County photos
• Forsyth County photos
• Sumter and Crisp County photos
• Dooly County photos
• Glascock and Jefferson County photos

Samples of Damage Seen During NWS Survey...

In Chattooga County... ( click images to enlarge )
Roof damage.	Damage to Car Care Center.
A tree damaged by tornado.	Tornado damage.
Damage to mobile home.	Damage to mobile home.