CHATSWORTH, Ga. — A calm Monday morning belied the violence of storms that tore through Murray County only a few hours earlier, and daylight revealed multiple deaths and devastation — including flooded roadways, downed trees and roofs torn off dwellings — throughout the county.

“Never in my life” has Melissa Shelton, who has lived on Highway 286 in Chatsworth for two decades, encountered anything as disastrous as the possible twister that blasted her property, she said. “I never expected anything like this.” 

Shelton, her husband, son and dog had been watching news for updates on the storms and went to their basement for safety, she said. They came back upstairs briefly, and then “We heard it.”

“It sounded like a train, and we barely made it into the basement,” she said. “We just heard the tornado, we ran into the basement, and it was already hitting.” 

The possible tornado “blew fast, and it blew quick,” said William Morrison, who has lived in Country View Apartments across the street from Bagley Middle School for two years. “We heard the siren and knew it was coming.”

Morrison knocked on the doors of several of his neighbors to alert them of the impending danger, which severely damaged the building, including ripping off a portion of the roof, he said. “I’ve never had this happen (before).”

A fellow Country View resident, James Patterson, was in Tunnel Hill Sunday night and returned Monday morning to survey the damage. He’s in the process of moving out of Country View, but still had some of his belongings there. 

“I didn’t have a whole lot left, but there were some valuables, and it’s all gone,” Patterson said. “The roof fell in.” 

Next to the apartment building, a gas station and convenience store also sustained serious damage.

“I’ve never seen this kind of thing in my life,” said manager Amir Baju. “I hope insurance will take care of it, (but) I have to talk to them and to the landowner, and I have no idea” how long it will take to repair the damage. 

While a portion of their garage survived, “everything else is gone,” Shelton said. “We have 20 acres, and about all our trees are gone.” 

Calvin Smith’s farm also has “countless trees down, it blew some tin off the old barn, and it took the foundation from out under the old chicken house,” Smith said. “We’re OK, though, so we’re blessed.” 

The safety of Shelton’s family was also her main priority, she said. “It’ll take a year or more to get back, but we’re safe, and that’s all that matters.” 

Smith’s family of five had been watching television, so they knew about the storms, and “we got in the center of the house,” he said. “I could feel the house shake a little and hear the roar.” 

“You knew something was happening,” he added. “I’ve lived here 27 years and never seen anything this bad.” 

Following the “very terrifying” moments that their property was torn asunder, “we just cried,” Shelton said. “That’s all we could do.”

Among the areas hardest hit by the storms were two mobile home parks north of Norton Bridge Road, and seven individuals were confirmed dead in Murray County, with more than 20 reported injured, according to Dewayne Bain, Murray County Emergency Management Agency director and fire chief. Numerous others are without homes, and several areas of the county lost power.

Due to its location in the center of the area hardest hit by the storms, Bagley Middle School became a center staging area on Monday, said Mike Pritchett, director of operations and security for Murray County Schools. Bain called Pritchett Sunday night “because he knew we had the facility to help (and) asked us to open up the school.”

“We brought in” individuals who were displaced, and while “it started with 10-12 people, we had 150-200 people in the building before the night was over,” Pritchett said. “That lasted until about 3 a.m., when we got the all-clear.”

Those that had places to go departed to them, but nearly 20 individuals didn’t have that luxury, so the Red Cross secured lodging for them in a local hotel, Pritchett said. He took a school bus and “dropped them off at their hotel around 4:15” a.m. 

Bagley sustained roof damage, and Northwest Elementary School “had a majority of its roof blown off,” he said. “In 28 years here, we’ve never had this happen.” 

The school also served breakfast and lunch on Monday to victims of the storms and the emergency personnel who worked to help the area recover, he said. “We’ve been trying to do everything we can.”

Gov. Brian Kemp declared a statewide state of emergency on Monday, and he toured the damage in Murray County. Kemp’s order creates a “coexisting state of emergency” with the existing “Public Health State of Emergency” that was already in place because of the new coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

As of early Monday morning, 177,000 Georgians were without power due to storms across the state, according to Kemp. Overnight, there were 40 tornado warnings issued across Georgia.

Shelton and her family were “still in shock” Monday morning. 

“I don’t know what to do, yet, but we had lots of friends call and text last night, and we have people coming to help today,” Shelton said. “Murray County, our community, is wonderful, that’s for sure.” 

In order to aid so many in such a short amount of time, “it’s been a partnership to say the least,” Pritchett said. “It’s been all hands on deck to take care of this emergency.”