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National Weather Service to survey storm damage in Gilmer County

GILMER COUNTY, Ga. — The National Weather Service survey teams will be on the ground in Gilmer County on Friday to determine if a tornado touched down during this week’s severe storms.

Severe Weather Team 2 Chief Meteorologist Brad Nitz and Severe Weather Team 2 Meteorologist Eboni Deon tracked a tornado-warned storm issued for the county around 11:15 p.m. Wednesday.

The NWS survey teams will take a look at the damage to confirm if a tornado did touch down and if so, determine its strength, width and path.

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The storms pushed trees and power lines into roads and on top of homes, trapping some families inside. The roof from the county’s forestry building on Old Highway 5 blew onto homes and an RV park next door. On top of that, flooding left 20 to 30 roads closed.

“There may be more than that because we continue to get reports,” said Gilmer County Emergency Management Director Keith Kucera. “Washed out roads, culverts washing out under roads. So, it’s just going to be a continued mess throughout the day as we try to mitigate many of these issues we have.”

It could take days for families to clear the debris and start repairs.

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