Pat Donahue/Times-EnterpriseCleanup efforts were underway in earnest Monday morning after a tornado tore through parts of Cairo on Sunday night.

Mother Nature has vented its fury on South Georgia once again. Less than five months after Hurricane Michael plowed through the region, a tornado has smashed into our neighbors in Cairo.

Grady County was hit hard by the hurricane last October. They’re an agricultural community just like we are, and Michael’s high winds shredded cotton and threw timber to the ground. We were on the edge of that storm; they took the full brunt. Whatever damage you saw here, multiply it to visualize what they dealt with.

Now they’re cleaning up from a storm that smashed houses and businesses through Cairo’s downtown Sunday. Cairo City Manager Chris Addleton described the damage as worse than during the hurricane, though in a much smaller area.

“It’s fairly localized, but there’s a path that starts at Monrovia Nurseries and pretty much goes to the fire station. It kind of tracked northeast,” Addleton told The Thomasville Times-Enterprise, our sister publication. “It’s a rough estimate, but there’s probably 100 houses with extensive damage.”

The same storm passed over us later on Sunday evening. Colquitt County Emergency Management Director Russell Moody reported no significant damage from it here. We were blessed.

Our hearts go out to our neighbors.

Following Hurricane Michael, several Colquitt County groups reached out to provide assistance to those hit harder than we were. Some took place with The Observer’s knowledge or assistance; others are still unknown to us. Our community’s help is needed again.

If you or your organization are providing help to Cairo — including supplies or volunteer work — please let us know so we can get the word out and help mobilize our community to help our neighbors.

Contact Managing Editor Kevin Hall at 229-985-4545 or by email at kevin.hall@gaflnews.com.