Only two minor injuries were reported, according to the Rockdale Sheriff’s Office. One was the result of a tree falling on a house, and the other from a tree falling on a vehicle.
The tornado hit the ground southwest of Conyers and then tracked to the northeast of Olde Town Conyers for nearly 10 miles, damaging at least 30 houses, the NWS said. The twister lifted at about 12:06 a.m. near the intersection of North Tower Way and Ga. 138.
One local resident, who resides on Briarwood Drive, was resigned to living out of her car after her home’s roof was destroyed.
“My living room has been impaled by a tree,” Carolyn Gillman told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
She said she was looking out her window at “this beautiful lightning storm” as she got ready for bed Tuesday night when her electricity started flickering.
“All of a sudden, the lights start turning off and on,” Gillman said. “It gave me this odd feeling. You know, my mom always said, ‘With bad weather, you get in the middle of the house.’ So I got in that bathroom, sat there in the bathroom and just hoped and prayed and listened to the sound … (it) came quick — and sudden.”
American Red Cross disaster assessment teams were in the area Wednesday to help those in need with emergency supplies and recovery. Fortunately, Rockdale schools are on spring break this week, and a spokesperson said there was no damage to schools or facilities.
First look at damage from a likely tornado west of Conyers near Turner Rd and McDaniel Mill Rd. This area is expected to be surveyed tomorrow. #gawx https://t.co/c66oYeKIdv
— NWS Atlanta (@NWSAtlanta) April 3, 2024
For Gillman, she said the roaring winds died down after about a minute, but “it felt like forever.” Once the sound dissipated, she heard rain coming into her house.
“I just knew that that big ‘whoosh’ that I heard, that big crash I heard was the tree coming through,” she said. “I peeked down my hallway, and sure enough, half my…
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