An EF-1 tornado touched down in Butts County during the severe storms Sunday that caused widespread damage and power outages across metro Atlanta.
The twister reached the ground at about 5:16 a.m. in the northeastern part of the county with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph, a National Weather Service forecaster confirmed Monday to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
It touched down in a wooded region west of Ga. 36 before crossing Keys Ferry Road, where it damaged a dozen homes and uprooted trees, according to the NWS.
“Several homes had portions of the roof blown off while others were missing shingles,” the NWS said. “Several homes with trees on them sustained more significant damage.”
The tornado moved toward an area by Lake Jackson, where damage was still visible from another devastating tornado in January 2023, the NWS said. It eventually weakened and entered Newton County before lifting to the east in Jasper County, the forecaster said.
The storms also caused severe damage in Atlanta, where a man was killed when a tree fell onto his home in the 700 block of Matilda Place. The man, who was struck while lying in his bed, died at the scene, Atlanta fire officials said.
He was identified Monday as 61-year-old Edward Johnson by the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s Office.
Credit: GoFundMe
Credit: GoFundMe
Johnson was in his bedroom with his wife Diane Jones, who said she heard the thunder, put her arms around him and said it was time to go, according to Channel 2 Action News.
“And before I said the last go, the house fell down on top of both of us,” she told the news station.
Johnson’s daughter Tamaya said he was a “loving husband and father,” according to a GoFundMe page created to help the family with funeral and other expenses.
“Anything that you can give will go a long way for our family during this crisis,” she said. ”This money will go towards a funeral for him and a place for my family to live. Thank you so much."
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