VALDOSTA — A tornado tore through northern Lowndes County Sunday, damaging and destroying buildings, though there were no reports of injuries or deaths, authorities said.
The National Weather Service sounded a tornado warning for Lowndes County around 3:15 p.m.
In fact, the weather service actually sounded three tornado warnings as the same storm cell moved up from northern Florida, said Jasmine Montgomery, a meteorologist with the service’s Tallahassee, Fla., office.
“It seems there was only actually one tornado in Lowndes,” she said.
Damage was in scattered areas, including a flattened home on Ezell Road, damaged structures on U.S. 84 and more damage around the Skipper Bridge Road area, Montgomery said.
Passers-by said the home on Ezell Road was not being lived in at the time.
Colquitt EMC repair crews could be seen responding in the north Lowndes County area; along Ezell Road, there were many power poles bent to the breaking point. A crew from the CSX railroad company could be seen clearing tracks of downed trees alongside U.S. 84 east of town.
Lowndes County Sheriff Ashley Paulk said he had not heard of any deaths or injuries connected to the tornado. He said he was aware of a pair of damaged trailers and a destroyed home.
The weather service doesn’t know how strong the twister was; a survey crew will be sent to Lowndes County Monday to figure that out, Montgomery said.