Tornado blows entire house into middle of road

UPSON COUNTY, Ga. — It’s right out of “The Wizard of Oz": A house in Georgia was picked up and dropped in the middle of a road during a tornado.

Channel 2’s Tom Regan found the house early Monday morning in Upson County. He said in his 30 year career, he’s never seen anything like this before.

The house was blocking Trinity Road for hours before crews moved it out of the way and tossed 50 feet onto the road.

The sheriff’s office says no one was inside when it was lifted into the air.

Debra Daniels owns the home, which she said was built in 1950. She and her husband were asleep when she heard the tornado.

“I was with my husband and all of a sudden, the rain and I woke and said, ‘wake up! wake up!’ It’s true it sounds like a freight train,” Daniels said.

Debra Daniels initially feared the worst for a couple renting the house from her and her husband.

“We can’t find them, we can’t call anybody,” Daniels said.

She eventually learned the couple wasn’t home.

“Thank God we are alive,” Daniels said.

Daniels said the tornado took part of the roof and chimney off her home, as it churned over the trees, cutting them like a hedge trimmer.

Down the road, a tornado sawed through a forest of tall pine trees barely missing the home where Alan Harris’s mom and stepfather live.

“She’s in the house, apparently she’s OK,” Harris said. “The good Lord spared her. They’re getting the trees cut out of the way right now.”

The tornado damaged dozens of homes around Thomaston and thousands of trees as it hopscotched through the rural county, leaving a trail of destruction behind.

The County sheriff says they have just begun cleanup and are calculating the cost of damages.

At least 8 people were killed overnight as severe storms spawned tornadoes across north Georgia.

NewsChopper2 shows tornado damage in Upson County NewsChopper 2 shows extensive damage to homes and trees down across Upson County

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