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Becky Watts: Phone # 770-468-7583 editor(@)pikecountytimes.com
This online news website is owned and operated by Becky Watts. If you enjoy reading Pike County Times, consider buying an advertisement for your business or sending a donation to support the only free online newspaper in Pike County. Donations can be sent to: The Pike County Times, PO Box 843, Zebulon, Georgia 30295. You can donate through PayPal link at the bottom of the page.
You can also donate through www.venmo.com/u/pikecountytimes and $pikecountytimes. Thanks for supporting Pike County's only free online newspaper!
These three storm night photos from Hutchison Farm and Yarbrough Mill Road are courtesy of Beth Totten.
Courtesy of Beth Totten.
Courtesy of Beth Totten.
Hobby Lobby. Courtesy of Mark Rosenthal.
Tree blocking a Pike County Road. Courtesy of Brittany Miller.
Tail lights on a tree covered road. Courtesy of Ethan Neath.
Crews working in Pike County today. Large pictures will be on my FB at Becky Clark Watts and Pike County Times.
Pictures from the EMA Center this morning.
Phones were ringing, coordination was going on with many agencies, and meetings were held by phone there as needed too.
The rest are photos from Blanton Mill, Dunbar School, and Bethany Church Roads from today.
GDOT clearing Hwy 19/41 of the last of the debris.
How many Georgia State Patrol and DOT Enforcement officers does it take to safely get rush hour traffic through the light at 19/41 and Hwy 92?
A lot. That's a dangerous intersection even when the lights are working!
Southern Crescent Technical College in Griffin.
By Editor Becky Watts
WILLIAMSON - A strong line of thunderstorms came through Georgia on January 12, 2023 that spawned tornadoes in north and central Georgia. The NWS states that per radar data, aerial surveys, and ground surveys, it has been determined that there were three tornadoes on the ground simultaneously in Southwest Spalding and Northwestern Pike Counties. These tornadoes can be traced all of the way back to the Selma, Alabama tornado.
The National Weather Service (NWS) declared that a tornado came through Meriwether and Pike/Southwest Spalding Counties. It had a rating of EF2 with an estimated peak wind of 120 mph. The length of the path was 27.6 miles with a maximum width of 1500 yards. There were no fatalities or injuries from this tornado.
According to this press release from NWS on January 15, 2023, the Meriwether/Northwest Pike/Southwest Spalding Tornado began at 3:45 p.m. in Meriwether County just east of the county line near Keith Road just north of GA Hwy 109. It had a diameter of .9 miles and winds over 100 mph that uprooted and snapped over 1,000 trees as well as damaging homes in its wake.
It intensified and destroyed several homes by trees falling on homes, blowing roofs off of homes, shifting a manufactured home off of its foundation as well as breaking the home in half, and destroying a barn as it paralleled the Flint River and crossed into the far southwest tip of Spalding County.
It briefly crossed into Pike County on the other side of the Flint River and crossed Hollonville Road where the winds dissipated somewhat to 75 to 80 mph but still down several trees as far as could be seen from public roadways there. The tornado lifted somewhere east of Blanton Bill Road about .3 miles north of the Pike/Spalding line.
Based on wind speeds, this was an EF-0 tornado that ended in Zetella at 4:17 p.m.
According to this press release from NWS on January 15, 2023, the Southwest Spalding County Tornado spun up at 4:19 p.m. near the Pike/Spalding line just west of Scott Branch Road.
Snapped or uprooted trees in this area show the tornado continuing east north east crossing Yarborough Mill Road before crossing the intersection of Blanton-Mill Road and Rover-Zetella Road. As the tornado tracked east, it became absorbed into the circulation that was simultaneously tracking northeast out of northern Pike County just the west of the Kendall Drive Area.
This tornado and the other circulation came together and peaked in intensity along Hwy 16 which ultimately became the longer track tornado that tracked through Griffin. They ended the one tornado in the approximate area where it came together with the other circulation. It ended at 4:22 p.m. and had an estimated peak wind of 90 mph with a path length of 3.69 miles and maximum width of 200 yards. There were no injuries of fatalities from this tornado.
Major Disaster Declared for 7 Counties, Not Including Pike County
Governor Brian Kemp announced that seven counties hit by severe storms, straight-line winds, and tornadoes were eligible to apply for disaster assistance to help cover the costs storm cleanup and recovery.
These seven counties include Butts, Henry, Jasper, Meriwether, Newton, Spalding, and Troup Counties.
SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) Available
Small businesses and most private nonprofit organizations in Pike County may be eligible to apply only SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs). Eligible businesses and private non-profit organizations of any size may borrow up to $2 million in disaster loads to repair or replace disaster-damaged or destroyed real estate, machinery and equipment, inventory, and other business assets.
According to the press release, small businesses, small agricultural cooperatives, small businesses engaged in aquaculture and most private nonprofit organizations, EIDLs could help meet working capital needs caused by these storms.
To find out more, go to https://disasterloanassistance.sba.gov/ela/s/ and apply under SBA declaration # 17761. The filing deadline to return applications for physical property damage is March 17, 2023. The deadline to return economic injury applications is Oct. 16, 2023.
Meanwhile in Pike County
Cleanup from the tornadoes has been ongoing since Thursday night. Pike County Times was out in Williamson to observe the damage and document crews from Public Works and electrical companies on Friday.
Many of the roads were passable at that time though electrical poles were still being replaced so electrical lines could be reconnected to turn on power in that area.
Public Works Director Todd Goolsby advised this morning, that the county had crews working Saturday and Monday on Dunbar School and Bethany Church Road removing tree debris on right of way.
He also advised that the county will be moving to Kings Bridge Road to begin debris removal there as soon as possible. They will also be working in a few other areas like Dripping Rock Road, Chapman Road, and Cook Road which did not sustain major damage from the storm.
Thank you to First Bank of Pike for sponsoring Pike County Times’ Breaking News Alerts! First Bank of Pike has been serving customers in Pike County and the surrounding area since 1901 and offers Personal and Business banking with a personal touch. Services include checking, savings, money market, certificates of deposit, and IRA’s. Mobile Banking and Bill Payment services are also available! Click here for more. Please let First Bank of Pike know that you appreciate their sponsorship of Breaking News Alerts on Pike County's only FREE online newspaper!
INFORMATION ABOUT RECEIVING BREAKING NEWS ALERTS CAN BE FOUND, HERE.
Thanks for reading and supporting Pike County Times.com!
By Editor Becky Watts
WILLIAMSON - A line of storms came through Georgia on January 12, 2023 that left damage in its wake. Locally, LaGrange, Meriwether, Pike, Spalding, and Butts County all have damage from a tornado that left residents with damaged houses and businesses.
A supercell out of Meriwether County that will likely be classified as a tornado by the National Weather Service left a mess for Pike County residents to clean up. Pike Emergency Management Agency (EMA) Director Jim Totten advised that several eyewitnesses saw the tornado.
Many are without power and internet tonight though crews have been working around the clock to remedy the situation.
Blanton Mill, Dunbar School, and Bethany Church Roads in Pike County were visited today as well as Kings Bridge Road in Spalding and Hwy 19/41 up to the Hwy 92 light and back on North Expressway by Southern Crescent.
UPDATE 1.14.23: 813-836-4923 is the number to volunteer to help residents in Pike County to clear debris from yards. You may also call it if you are in need of volunteers to help you clean up yard.
678-453-4508 is number to call to volunteer to help residents in Spalding County to clear debris from yards. You may also call it if you are in need of volunteers to help you clean up yard or if you need donated goods.
The donation center to drop off goods for Spalding or Pike is 220 East Solomon Street in Griffin. They will NOT except clothing. They are in need of baby supplies.
"We are not doing one in Pike," said EMA Director Totten. "We are trying a regional concept for both donated goods and volunteer to combine resources."
"If you want to volunteer thank you but please be careful and be mindful of the on going recovery process going on with power companies and governmental departments," Totten said.
Vega Church located at 1837 Vega Road in Meansville is accepting donations for non-perishable food items, cleaning supplies, toiletries, and on Saturday afternoon. They will be open from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Saturday. NO CLOTHING WILL BE ACCEPTED AT THIS TIME.
END OF 1.14.23 UPDATE.
Clearing the Roads
Totten advised that most of Pike County's roads were open last night. Public Works Director Todd Goolsby told Pike County Times that Public Works was out until midnight last night clearing the roads and back out and working again this morning.
Goolsby had four crews working today to remove trees from the right of way so power crews could get in to replace electrical poles and repair the power lines that were laying on the ground in many places. "We're going to get it," he said. "It's just going to take time."
This afternoon, Pike County Times talked to a couple of different electrical crews that were working to replace poles and repair power lines. Some of those guys had been working since they came into work yesterday morning.
County Manager Brandon Rogers also advised that Goodman Grading provided equipment and manpower to help open up the roads last night.
The Pike County Sheriff's Office advised that there 62 storm related calls last night.
Citizens came out to help those in need as well.
The county will clear the roadways of trees and debris. However, homeowners will be responsible for clearing their own property.
There is discussion of getting a list of homeowners on paper and helping coordinate chainsaw and other work that may be needed. [Note from the Editor: This has been updated. See the number in bold above. Thank you to all who have been helping your neighbors in this endeavor!]
Totten confirmed that there have been no injuries or fatalities in Pike County.
Emergency Management Agency (EMA)
Members of the Pike County Fire Department and Deputies from the Pike County Sheriff's Office were completing welfare checks this morning when Pike County Times went into the EMA Headquarters at Station 6 in Williamson.
Assessments of homes were also being conducted throughout the county. By 3 p.m. the preliminary damage assessment was completed.
According to the preliminary damage assessment, 89 houses throughout Pike County were impacted by the storm with 1 home being destroyed, 5 with major damage, and 4 with minor damage.
[Note from the Editor: Thanks to Williamson Wings for donating lunch for the EMA crew today.]
Southern Rivers Energy Update
The Southern Rivers Energy Outage page shows approximately 150 Pike County residents in the Williamson area remain without power tonight of the county along with 3 more off of River Road.
The latest news can be found on their website at southernriversenergy.com and their Facebook page.
UPDATE 1.13.23 AT 11 P.M. "As you know, our crews are encountering trees on lines, broken poles and equipment, and miles of downed lines. We expect to make significant progress tonight, but due to extensive damage in some areas, some outages are expected to last into tomorrow. That said, as each line is repaired and energized the contractors and linemen will then move on to help the crews working the next line. As more hands are made available, the faster restoration should be.
A special thank you to Grady EMC, Altamaha EMC, Coastal Electric Cooperative, Oconee Electric Membership Corporation, Flint Energies, Jefferson Energy Cooperative, Sumter Utilities Inc., MasTec and Harper’s Tree Service!
We have 146 linemen and contractors assisting with restoration efforts, and we will continue to work around the clock until all power is restored. We thank you for your continued patience. Please keep crews in your thoughts and prayers as they safely work to restore power to our members. #thankalineman" END OF 1.13.23 UPDATE.
Closing
The Governor declared a state of emergency for Georgia yesterday. This will enable counties to apply for funds to help with clean up efforts.
The Pike County Board of Commissioners had a Special Called Meeting this afternoon in order to get the emergency declaration ratified and funds set for the clean up effort.
For those who would like to help people in Griffin, Vega Church located at 1837 Vega Road in Meansville is accepting donations for non-perishable food items, cleaning supplies, toiletries, and other personal items that will be delivered to Griffin’s Volunteer and Donated Goods Center tomorrow afternoon. They will be open from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Saturday. NO CLOTHING WILL BE ACCEPTED AT THIS TIME.
Pike County Times will update this article with more information as volunteer lists to help in Pike County, etc. become available.
All of my pictures will be on my Facebook page as soon as I can get them cut and placed there. (The pictures on this article are small, but those on my FB page will be full-sized!) Feel free to download and share from there.
Thank you to First Bank of Pike for sponsoring Pike County Times’ Breaking News Alerts! First Bank of Pike has been serving customers in Pike County and the surrounding area since 1901 and offers Personal and Business banking with a personal touch. Services include checking, savings, money market, certificates of deposit, and IRA’s. Mobile Banking and Bill Payment services are also available! Click here for more. Please let First Bank of Pike know that you appreciate their sponsorship of Breaking News Alerts on Pike County's only FREE online newspaper!
INFORMATION ABOUT RECEIVING BREAKING NEWS ALERTS CAN BE FOUND, HERE.
Thanks for reading and supporting Pike County Times.com!