Historic Microburst Storm is small but dangerous

8/25/2020 (Permalink)

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Storm ravages Hart County during the night of April 6, 2017.  By Michael Isom Staff writer

“The worst storm damage was out there by Cateechee (Golf Club) or out there on Bowman Highway next to the Ag Center,” said Hart County Sheriff Mike Cleveland The sheriff’s department started getting phone calls from Hart County residents when the storm began.

James Fulghum lives on Bowman Highway near the Agriscience Center and was awoken by the storm. “I don’t get scared that often, but I have to admit that really scared me,” said Fulghum.

 Lynne Adams had a similar experience at her Ross Road home. “I have lived in this house nearly 30 years, and haven’t, until now, heard a hailstorm like this here,” she said. “I seriously thought the windows might break.”

According to Ed Hoy, supervisor of system operations with Hart EMC, over 1,500 members were without power at the height of the storm.

The biggest concentration of incidents were reported in the Liberty Hill and Sardis areas. “Enough praise cannot be given to the (Hart County) Fire Department and the volunteers and the (Hart County) Road Department. They were actually the hands-on chain saws, tractors, and whatever was needed to get the job done,” Cleveland said. “It was just amazing the amount of huge trees in the road. We aren’t talking about one tree. We are talking about multiple trees.”

Excerpts from the Hartwell Sun Newspaper, April 13^th, 2017

Thankfully, there were no storm related injuries reported.

Literally, hundreds of trees were knocked down in a straight-line wind shear that damaged over 100 home and businesses. 

Storms like this are becoming more frequent this decade and their damage can be severe.

Emergency crews from SERVPRO of Tri-County & SERVPRO of the Mountains were on the scene early that morning assisting people with water removal, debris cleanup and property restoration.