6:38EDT: Looks like a potentially large tornado by radar which was in Woodstock, Georgia, and is headed between Alpharetta and Roswell, then onto Duluth. A tornado warning has been issued and this cell has persisted for some time at points indicating a hail core of potentially 3.5" and cloud tops at over 40,000 ft.
7:23EDT Update: Now a tornado warning in Cobb County for Marietta...
One of the folks who stumbled upon my blog, Kelly Fernandez sent these pictures to me of the damage in her "brother in laws subdivision in Woodstock, GA. [She] thinks the name of the subdivision is River Oaks." According to Kelly, her friend passed by this morning and took these pictures. 
Furthermore, she asked..."Do you think it was a tornado by the looks of the pics?" Well, Kelly, the pictures are not showing a wide area of damage, so it's hard to determine from the pictures alone, but what I would look for is the way the damage path is laying. For example, if all the trees are generally falling in the same direction, I would say that it was a straight line wind event, a very powerful one. If damage and debris is generally scattered everywhere, in every direction and follows a general path, you are most likely looking at tornado damage. As I mentioned in the post that night, it looked like it COULD be a tornado on the radar... but it's hard to know at what point that might have been and the accompanying wind in the outflow boundary (the leading edge of the storm) could have been strong enough to do the damage seen in that picture. Thanks so much for sharing those pics, Kelly.
UPDATE: This damage has been confirmed by the National Weather Service-Peachtree City to have been the result of an EF-1 tornado. The report is available here (click here).
The governor has declared a state of emergency (if you were impacted by the storm, click here for imformation about that declaration) for Cherokee County, as a result of the tornado.
Please visit my main blog page (click here) for updates if you found this on a search.
~Dew
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Potential Tornado in Woodstock, Georgia
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My daughter from Woodstock, Ga. just called me in Tn. She and her family are okay, but yes there was a tornado! Her house is damaged from a tree which fell into their home from a neighbors' property.Thank God they were in a closet and are all okay!!!
ReplyDeleteMy sister called from woodstock GA.
ReplyDeleteher house was spared but the entire Hollyoak subdivision was destroyed.
My friend called and said that my brother in law who lives in Arnold Mill Rd. his home was destroyed by the "storm" which we actually think now was a tornado path that passed right through his home. He has 3 trees that fell on top of his roof.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for all the updates. It was clearly a volatile storm that caused widespread damage. I am anxious to see the determination of the Weather Service, as they seem to be avoiding using the "t" word (tornado) to describe the situation. I actually heard microburst used this morning. The radar was one of the more impressive that I have seen in a while.
ReplyDeletemy daughter lives on chickasaw lane in woodstock and that road had severe damage. both her cars and all her tress were taken out, the neighbors houses we split in half or rooms just taken off the houses...porches, pools, privacy fences lifted and taken off.....her next door neighbor lost his kitchen and living room. thats all I've heard for now
ReplyDeleteI Rode home last night and there was a definite path of destruction that seems to be typical of a tornado. It looks like it started in the town of Holly Springs and moved south east through Lebanon and Woodstock before dissapating. I saw a lot of damage with trees and power lines down.
ReplyDeleteWow, thank y'all for the updates and input. Keep it coming. I am sure as people find this information, they will be glad you offered it.
ReplyDeleteYes it was a tornado. I talked to a police officer and he said yes after our subdivision, River Oaks was hit hard. I'm disabled and in a wheelchair and my daughter stays with us. My husband was at work. I looked out the front window and saw a huge cloud with a funnel and didn't know which direction it was coming for but when golf-ball sized hail hit the roof my daghter and I hid in the bathroom. We have 8 trees down in our yard and one against the west side of the house. Many houses are so damaged that people can't get into them. It looks like a war zone. So it definitely wasn't a microburst.
ReplyDeleteI have some pictures from damages in the River Oaks subdivision, How do I post it for you guys to see? Cut and Paste does not seem to work.
ReplyDeleteDew drop, I sent pictures of damage in a subdivision in Woodstock to your yahoo email address. I wanted to share them with you so that you can see how bad the damage was. I'm sure you will find these pictures very interesting. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteWe live on Chickasaw Run as well. House is severely damaged by trees. It was aweful...and that's being kind.
ReplyDeleteThanks, again everyone for the updates, and Kelly, thank you for taking the time to send those pictures. As you can read in my post, the National Weather Service (the official group that confirms tornadoes) has designated the damage as EF-1 tornado damage, meaning that it has officially been established that this was a tornado.
ReplyDeleteWe live off of East Cherokee, in East Cherokee Village. It was a wild time. Wierd enough though when you turn into our nieghborhood there is no damage, but as soon you get to the first street you can turn on...it's like a war zone.
ReplyDeleteStill like a war zone... how awful. My thoughts and prayers remain with everyone who has been impacted by these vicious storms.
ReplyDelete