A tornado sliced through Floyd and Polk counties Saturday afternoon killing two people, sending others to area hospitals and leaving many families homeless.
The storms were a severe reprise of a milder wave that swept through the area late Friday night.
One death was confirmed in a house destroyed in southeastern Floyd County on Old Wax Road south of Brumbelow Road, said Scotty Hancock, Floyd County EMA director.
The victim was identified as Jerry Paul Albers, 71, of 433 Old Wax Road S.E., said Deputy Coroner Ernie Studard.
Chief Deputy Coroner Tony Cooper pronounced Albers dead at the scene at 2:14 p.m., Studard said. Albers was a member of Second Avenue Methodist Church in Rome and had retired from the accounting department at Floyd Medical Center.
Click here for video coverage of the storm damage.
Click here and here for more photos.
Ten homes in the area were moderately damaged, and another five were “totally destroyed,” Hancock said. Most of the damage in Floyd County was on Old Wax Road just north of the Polk County line.
Bonnie Turner, age unavailable, of Live Oak Road, north of Aragon, was killed when the twister hit her home, police said.
A family friend from Florida, Jo Trapp, said Bonnie Turner’s husband Michael Turner had been transferred to a hospital in Tennessee and was listed in critical condition Saturday night. The Turners raised American hairless terriers, and some of their dogs were missing late Saturday.
Several homes were reportedly damaged in the Wax Road and Live Oak Road area in Aragon.
Hancock said while he is not a weather expert, the storm occurred during daylight and witnesses reported seeing a funnel cloud.
A spokesman for the National Weather Service said the agency will investigate the area today in an effort to confirm the presence of a tornado.
Polk County law enforcement and fire officials said they spotted funnel clouds Saturday in the Chubbtown Road and Lake Creek area. One cloud was reported over Cedartown High School; however, there was no confirmed touchdown.
In Floyd County, emergency responders set up a command center at Flint Hill Baptist Church at Morris and Wax roads to treat those injured and to coordinate rescue efforts.
Two unidentified people were also injured when their car was tossed off the road. Their conditions could not be determined Saturday.
The Salvation Army was on site with a disaster canteen truck from Carrollton on Saturday to help hungry, hurt and homeless residents and volunteers at the scene.
Capt. Tim Farrell, director of the Salvation Army in Rome, said within their first 30 minutes on site they served approximately 50 people.
The Salvation Army served hot meals and sandwiches to victims and volunteers through most of Saturday afternoon and evening and left at 9:30 p.m. He said Flint Hill Baptist Church was planning to feed families this morning.
Floyd County received 0.69 inches of rain Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.
Curtis Hart, a spokesman with Georgia Power, said about 1,500 customers lost power in Floyd County and about 7,500 in Bartow County were in the dark. He said crews were hopeful power would be restored to most locations overnight.
Residents may be recalling another tornado that swept through Floyd County 14 years ago on Palm Sunday, destroying homes on Conns Lake Road in Lindale.
OTHER HEADLINES:
Community hit hard by tornado
Polk kennel destroyed in storm; dogs may be lost or dead
Click here for a story about 1994 Palm Sunday tornado, and here for the front page of the Rome News-Tribune featuring the story.
Rome News-Tribune staffers Mike Colombo, Lindsay Field, David Royal, Bryant Steele, Lowell Vickers, Ken Caruthers, Aimee Harmison, Elizabeth Cady and William T. Martin contributed to the coverage.
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