Storm batters portions of city, county

Homepage

Related Photos

Tim DeMott talks with insurance company on the phone Thursday at his packing shed destroyed at about 7 p.m. Wednesday by winds.
An uprooted tree rests on top of a house on Fifth Avenue Northwest after high winds tore tore through a several-block area downing dozens of trees and power lines. A number of other houses also were damaged by falling debris and wind.

Discussion

January 31, 2013

Storm batters portions of city, county

Alan Mauldin The Moultrie Observer The Moultrie Observer Thu Jan 31, 2013, 09:08 PM EST

MOULTRIE — High winds that struck the county Wednesday evening downed dozens of trees, some toppled onto homes, destroyed a vegetable storage shed and knocked out power to more than 4,000 homes.

No injuries were reported, but damage occurred over much of the county, some of it substantial, said Russell Moody, Colquitt County emergency management director.

Damage included heavy damage in a roughly three by three block area in Northwest Moultrie centered at about Seventh Avenue and Sixth Street, where trees fell on residents’ roofs and wind tore off shingles.

“The wind was like whoo whoo,” said Northwest resident Shirley Dennis. “It was ugly out there last night. It started blowing trees like people breaking toothpicks.”

Dennis said the storm, with high winds and lightning, hit about 7:20 p.m.

“You could hear the trees breaking off,” she said. “They were flying everywhere.”

A neighbor who lives near a 721 Sixth Ave. residence where two trees snapped off and fell on the roof added, “Thank God he wasn’t home.”

A large pine was uprooted and fell lengthwise over a brick house on Fifth Avenue Northwest, causing extensive damage. The winds snapped a number of other trees in two, with Moultrie workers working most of the night restoring power and cleaning debris.

At about 7 p.m. the winds tore through Tim DeMott’s vegetable packing shed on Dunn Road, ripping large girders out of their concrete base and collapsing much of the building. The steel girders were twisted, which led DeMott to wonder whether the damage was caused by a twister.

DeMott said he lost the last of the winter cabbage harvest which was in the cooler inside the shed. He hopes to rebuild by April when he will need a cooler for the spring crop.

A group of mobile homes a short distance from the wreckage of the shed was spared.

The National Weather Service office in Tallahassee said that the damage was the result of straight-line winds and the agency did not believe a tornado hit the area.

“I’m just glad nobody got hurt and we’re fortunate it wasn’t as bad as in North Georgia,” Moody said.

Most residents throughout the county had power restored Wednesday night or Thursday morning.

Colquitt County EMC had about 3,500 customers without power after the storm hit, said Doug Loftis, manager of human resources and corporate services. The damage was not concentrated in any particular area but was spread throughout the county, he said.

In Moultrie, where about 500 houses were without power for about three hours, there were some houses where owners will have to make repairs before service can be restored, Utilities Director Roger King said. He estimated about a dozen homes remained without power as of Thursday afternoon.

“It was mostly confined to northwest, that’s where the worst of it was,” he said. “The damage in part of northwest was incredible. There was quite a bit of damage there and there were some scattered things around town.”

City employees were out until 2 a.m., King said, and many were called back on at 4 a.m. and were still working into the afternoon. The pace had slowed down somewhat by midafternoon.

“There’s still a lot of damage,” he said. “Obviously I feel for the residents.”

About 400 Georgia Power Co. customers in the county area lost power at about 7 p.m. but most had service back by 9:30 p.m. and the last 20 by midnight, said spokesman Brian Green.

The Colquitt County Sheriff’s Office had a report of an auto accident at 7:45, when Lori Ann Macklin struck a downed tree that fell in the roadway on David Newton Road and was not visible due to heavy rain.

Cynthia Surls reported striking a road construction sign that had blown into the road at about 7:14 p.m. near the intersection of First Avenue Southeast and 26th Street, sheriff’s reports said.

Text Only

Homepage

Search Results

Related Photos

Discussion

Storm batters portions of city, county

Should the Boy Scouts accept gay members and/or leaders?

Site Map

Contact Us