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NWS sends crews to survey tornado damage across state

PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. — The National Weather Service is in south and central Georgia to survey damage from Sunday’s storms.

The NWS estimates that EF-2 or EF-3 tornadoes caused massive damage across the southern and central part of the state. The path of destruction in some areas is 200 yards wide.

The tornadoes are responsible for killing at least 15 people in Georgia alone.


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Channel 2’s Carl Willis caught up with NWS warning coordination meteorologist David Nadler Monday evening as he returned from central Georgia, where he surveyed the path of destruction from a powerful tornado.

"We saw hundreds of trees just snapped, laid down, uprooted," Nadler said.

Nadler said he spent the day in Rochelle, Wilcox County, looking at one main tornado that came out of Albany and crossed through multiple forecast areas.

Channel 2’s Carl Willis caught up with NWS warning coordination meteorologist David Nadler Monday evening as he returned from central Georgia, where he surveyed the path of destruction from a powerful tornado.

He said the storm’s strength is not official as of Monday night but believes peak winds reached 130 miles an hour.

"We're looking at high-end EF-2 damage that we saw in our area. We think there might be even stronger winds and damage that was worse down in Tallahassee's area," Nadler told Willis.

The National Weather Service in Peachtree City sent out three teams to survey miles of damage that stretch across the Georgia/Florida state line.

After seeing the scope of the damage from the air and then up close on the ground, Nadler said it's amazing that central Georgia didn't have any injuries or deaths.

"I think it's just important that people heed the watches and the warnings," Nadler said. “You can see what happens, what has happened over the past few days."

Nadler said the NWS will need more time to get back down to the affected areas, assess the damage and coordinate with Tallahassee before they have anything official to report about the storms.