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Updated: 11:02 PM Jun 15, 2009
Tornado Touches Down in Elbert County
A barn on a 110-year-old homestead was demolished by the force of a tornado that touched down in Elbert County. Beyond that report, there have been no other confirmed reports of structural damage from the tornado, which was widely sighted near Elbert. Posted: 2:39 PM Jun 15, 2009Reporter: Shannon Brinias Email Address: sbrinias@kktv11news.com |
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A barn on a 110-year-old homestead was demolished by the force of a tornado that touched down in Elbert County.
Beyond that report, there have been no other confirmed reports of structural damage to homes or outbuildings from the tornado, which was widely sighted near Elbert.
KKTV Meteorologist Brian Bledsoe estimates from the video footage he's seen that the tornado measured 1/4 mile in diameter at its peak.
Elbert County Sheriff's officials say their dispatch fielded dozens of calls of reports of limited damage from a tornado touching down.
The reports came from west and south of the town of Elbert. There haven't been any reports of people being injured.
At the site of the damaged barn, Victoria Ward said, "The barn has been here a long time. It's survived many tornadoes. This one got it." She's renting the ranch.
The huge twister prompted many people to reach for their cameras. An 11 News viewer named Melissa had her video camera handy and grabbed it the second she spotted it.
"I was freaking out because I was driving near it, almost blew me off the road," she said.
She continued, "It was getting wider and wider, moved to the ground and it took 20 minutes for it to touch, but you could see it getting the dirt off the ground."
(You can watch her home video on this website under the video playlist. )
Another witness told us he saw the tornado tear up a pine tree right out of the ground.
Paul Blask, of Elbert, snapped many of the photos that first made it on the air on KKTV. Blask said, "I thought I'd never see something like this, it's crazy, nuts."
Elbert County officials told KKTV that additional aid vehicles were sent from other counties to assist in any response effort.
Latest Comments
My husband is the great great grandson of the builder of this barn. It's right at a hundred years old. This barn holds many family memories. It's a shame to see it go. But to make a correction in the story the Ward's do not own that barn or the property!
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