While most folks were asleep in their beds, severe storms unleashed ferocious winds in Laurens and Johnson counties Sunday morning.
Shortly after 6:36 a.m., a tornado with winds from 111-135 mph hit the north end of Laurens County, according to the National Weather Service.
Tracey and Lisa Clements were inside their double-wide mobile home at 2731 U.S. 441 with two grandchildren when the storm struck. Tracey Clements was killed, and his wife has life-threatening injuries.
Lisa Clements was taken to The Medical Center of Central Georgia, but the children were not seriously hurt, Laurens County Coroner Richard Stanley said.
"It looked like it kind of picked it up off the foundation and flipped it over," he said of the Clements' mobile home.
Yellow tape blocked the entrance to the Clements' property Sunday afternoon where the wind had snapped large trees, tossing them to the ground. A family spokesman guarding the entrance declined to answer questions about the incident.
Nearby, Betty Watkins woke to rain falling on her face.
The roof and back side of her home at 808 Evergreen Road flew off, said her nephew, Jonathan Strange, who lives next door and went to check on her.
"I was trying to get in through a door and I couldn't get in, so I walked around and I could walk right in through the back of the house," Strange said.
The sheriff's office estimates 51 homes in the north part of the county and 28 around the East Dublin side of the county were damaged.
On Walker Hill Road in East Dublin, Jimmy Truett and his family were sleeping when their three out-buildings slammed into their home. A metal rail from the porch roof tore through the walk-in closet near his bed.
"The good Lord was with us," Truett said.
Down the street, a refrigerator was floating in a pond after sailing in the air several hundred yards from a demolished mobile home.
On New Buckeye Road, the Millers' mobile home was ripped away and smashed into nearby trees. A house on the property shifted about 15 feet off its foundation.
"The storm just came through and took everything away, you know," said Nadine Miller Hunt. "But you don't worry about material things. I'm just glad no lives were taken. You can always replace things."
Laurens County Sheriff Bill Harrell said he considers the county blessed, considering people did not have much time to react as the storm hit moments after it showed up on televised radar.
Response to the damage was just as quick.
"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.
In Johnson County, rescuers freed several families trapped inside their homes, said Doug Eaves, county administrator. Investigators from the National Weather Service are expected to survey damage today to determine if a tornado touched down there.
Several homes and buildings were damaged, and numerous trees and power lines were down across roads.
It could be Tuesday before electricity is fully restored in rural areas and Wednesday before all roads are passable, Eaves said.
Many people were without water after the top of the Wrightsville water tower ripped off and crashed down on a street below. City workers shut off the water to keep it from shooting out of the top of the open tower when the electricity came back on.
The county called for a curfew from 9 p.m. Sunday until sunrise. Officials will assess the situation today to decide whether a curfew is needed tonight, Eaves said.
Johnson County hit hard, but town of Kite still standing
Johnson County schools are closed today and Tuesday.
Firefighters from surrounding counties set up a command post at the Wrightsville Fire Department, and Georgia Department of Transportation workers helped clear the roads, Eaves said.
Linnie Hines was sleeping on a couch inside the Bargain Barn on Cross Cedar Road when the roof pulled off and items started flying out of the secondhand store where insulation now hangs from bare beams.
Rumors about devastation in Kite flew almost as fast as debris, but the city with a population of 200 is still standing in eastern Johnson County.
"Everybody's got a tree down," and mobile homes outside of town were destroyed by Sunday's storms, Kite Fire Chief Donald Peebles said. But media reports that the entire town was destroyed — including online posts with CNN and USA Today — are not true, Peebles said.
Mayor Kenneth Carroll answered some calls at City Hall, though telephone service was spotty and water and power were out.
"It took out a big portion of the city gym," Carroll said. "There is probably 10 or 15 houses that have trees on top of them — at least 10 or 15."
North of town, in an area called Gumlog, mobile homes were destroyed, Carroll said. Only one serious injury was reported when a man broke his leg while cutting fallen trees, Peebles said.
Peebles said he wouldn't even describe the situation in town as "very serious."
"I would just call it a problem," he said.
Telegraph staff writer Travis Fain contributed to this report.
Readers' storm photos, Part I (updated Tues. 11:04 a.m.)