Posted on Sun, May. 11, 2008

The Laurens County coroner released the identity of a man killed this morning during a severe weather outbreak that may have spawned a tornado.

Tracey Clements, who is believed to be in his 40s, was killed inside the family's double-wide mobile home at 2731 U.S. 441 North near Evergreen Road in Laurens County, said Richard Stanley, Laurens County coroner.

Clements, his wife Lisa Clements and two grandchildren were inside the mobile home when a suspected tornado hit.

"It looked like it kind of picked it up off the foundation and flipped it over," Stanley said.

Lisa Clements was taken to The Medical Center of Central Georgia for treatment of serious injuries, but the children were not seriously hurt, Stanley said.

Yellow taped blocked the entrance to the Clements' property Sunday afternoon where large trees were snapped and tossed on the ground. A family spokesman guarding the entrance declined to answer questions about the incident.

Laurens County Sheriff Bill Harrell said he considers the county very blessed after surveying the severity of the damage in the northern and eastern sections of the county.

"One thing that really impresses me about the folks in our community is this, as you look out here there are so many volunteers who are dedicating their time to help their neighbors, getting their tractors and coming up here and cleaning things up for the folks," Harrell said.

Most of the roads in Laurens County are open again, except for roads on the east side, in the New Buckeye Road area, County Administrator Bryan Rogers said. There are a lot of power lines down in that area, he said.

Power is still out in significant parts of the county, but the city of Dublin has power now. The damage is widespread in Laurens County, and schools may be closed tomorrow, though that decision has not been made, Rogers said.

"We've identified so far about 90 homes that have sustained minor damage to totally destroyed. ..." Rogers said. "I'm sure that number's going to grow."

Maj. Keith Golden, with the Laurens County Sheriff's Office, said the damage was extensive.

"I don't see that you can have that kind of damage that we had out there and it not be a tornado," Golden said. "There's such a clear path."