CHEROKEE COUNTY, Ga.,None — The National Weather Service confirms a tornado briefly touched down in Cherokee County on Wednesday, causing damage to homes and cars.
Officials said a storm survey was conducted by the Cherokee County EMA director and he found that a small tornado touched down briefly on Oak Meadow Drive on Wednesday.
The tornado caused numerous trees in the area to fall on homes, officials said. Three homes suffered major damage, ten homes suffered minor damage, three outbuildings and three cars were destroyed by falling trees, authorities said.
Officials said the tornado lifted near the intersection of Waters Road and East Cherokee Drive and had an estimated wind speed of 75 miles per hour.
VIDEO: Fallen Trees Damage Cherokee Homes
Emergency officials told Channel 2's John Bachman that eight homes had moderate to major damage in the Bradshaw Farms subdivision in Cherokee County. Wind snapped tree trunks in half on Woodside Park Drive.
John Bachman WSB-TV Cherokee Storm Damage IM High winds snapped trees in the Bradshaw Farms neighborhood in Cherokee County.
"All I saw was the leaves spinning, and heard it. You could definitely hear it. There's no doubt in my mind it was a tornado," said resident Keith Holland.
Strong winds and rain reached from the north metro counties down to Carroll County.
One Whitesburg resident told Channel 2's Linda Stouffer she went to her storm shelter after she heard Chandley break in with news of a tornado warning.
"I mean I was hysterical. Our sirens never went off, nothing went off," said Whitesburg resident Shannon Britt.
VIDEO: Town Upset Over Tornado Siren Malfunction
"We heard David Chandley when he came on, so I started to get my stuff up, my little dog was going crazy on the floor going back and forth. It was so black in my house you couldn't see where you were walking," added Britt.
TWITTER: Follow Meteorologist David Chandley
The Whitesburg police chief confirmed that sirens did not go off. Heavy rain actually started to leak through the roof at police headquarters. The city's emergency management director told Stouffer they would have to wait until conditions improved before sending a technician up to check on the siren.
Alan Hand, WSB-TV I-75 Flooding IM Flooding stopped cars on I-75 near Mount Paran Road on Wednesday Other areas, including a stretch of I-75 near Mount Paran Road saw flooding. "You'll notice the storms not making a lot of great progression east bound. It's what we call training. Storms and rain rolling over areas that have already been rained on much like boxcars on a train," said Chandley.
Please stay tuned to Channel 2 Action News and wsbtv.com for the latest watches and warnings. Our team of meteorologists are working through the night in Severe Weather Center 2 tracking the weather as it moves out.
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