8 Gordon County homes left with significant damage from likely tornado

GORDON COUNTY, Ga. — One the hardest-hit areas from Thursday's storms is Gordon County.

Eight homes along East Plainview Road sustained heavy damage from the storms.

Severe Weather Team 2 Chief Meteorologist Glenn Burns said some of the rotation he saw in that area on StormTracker 2HD will likely become a confirmed tornado once the National Weather Service goes out to the neighborhood to survey the damage Friday.

The storms hit that area shortly before 5:30 a.m. Thursday.

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Severe Weather Team 2 Meteorologist Brad Nitz went to the neighborhood once the storms moved through Thursday.

When he got there, Nitz found roofs of homes blown off, trees down and yards littered with debris.

He said there was a clear path the storm left behind, leaving destruction throughout the neighborhood.

The home with the roof that was blown off belongs to Shelly Harris.

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Harris, her son and her boyfriend, Charles Hardin, escaped without so much as a scratch as the storm destroyed their home.

The family spoke to Channel 2’s Richard Elliot.

“What are you going to do?” Elliot asked Harris.

“I don’t know. We’re just trying to figure out where to take our stuff and where we’re going to go,” Harris said.

Hardin said he was asleep inside when the storm ripped the roof off.

“I heard the wind. Next thing I know, the damn roof caved in,” Hardin said.

Harris said she and her son narrowly escaped a falling branch as they were climbing into their car.

“We’re just blessed that we didn’t have injuries when you look at the damage that did occur,” Gordon County Emergency Management Director Courtney Taylor said.

He pointed out to Elliot that it was seven years ago almost to the day that a tornado ravaged the exact same area.

Now he’s back helping people try and recover.

“We’ve got a team of Red Cross here helping us do assessments for any needs that are unmet for our citizens,” Taylor said.

Officials with the Red Cross told Elliot they will make sure Hardin and the Harrises will have a dry place to stay Thursday night.

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