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U.S. NEWS Monday 23 January 2017
Southeast bris where the wall to their
home office once stood.
tornadoes President Donald Trump

said Sunday he had spo-
ken with Georgia Gov. Na-
Continued from front than Deal and “expressed
our sincere condolences
The county is home to Al- for the lives taken.”
bany, southwest Georgia’s “Tornadoes were vicious
largest city with about and powerful and strong,
76,000 residents. and they suffered greatly,”
“We know we have fatali- Trump said during a White
ties and a lot of injuries,” House ceremony where he
said Burns, who declined to was swearing in aides. “So
estimate how many were we’ll be helping out the
dead or hurt. “And there state of Georgia.”
is substantive damage to Several homes appeared
one of our trailer parks.” to be destroyed along on
An Associated Press report- a road within about 2 miles
er arriving in Albany saw of the mobile home park,
several police and State with cinderblocks scat-
Patrol cars heading to one tered on the ground, and
area with lights flashing, as pine trees uprooted and
well as three ambulances. snapped in half. The tops
There were downed trees of broken utility poles lay
along the road and traffic alongside the road.
signals were without pow- The South Georgia Mo- Jenny Bullard carries a pair of boots from her home that was damaged by a tornado, Sunday, Jan.
22, 2017, in Adel, Ga.
er. A helicopter hovered torsports Park in Cecil was Associated Press
overhead not far away. heavy damaged; a grand-
About 12 hours earlier — stand was ripped apart.
and 60 miles to the south- Barrels, signs, insulation and
east — an apparent tor- garbage were strewn over
nado “leveled” a Cook the speedway and park-
County mobile home ing lot.Georgia’s governor
park before dawn Sunday declared a state of emer-
and emergency respond- gency in seven southern
ers searched for survivors Georgia counties, freeing
for hours after the twister up state resources to assist
struck, said Coroner Tim with recovery efforts. “Our
Purvis. Purvis said the park thoughts and prayers are
had about 40 mobile with Georgians suffering
homes, and roughly half from the storm’s impact,”
were destroyed. The area Deal said in a statement.
was cordoned off by po- Two of Sunday’s deaths
lice. Not far from the mo- occurred when a mobile
bile home park, 19-year- home was struck by an ap-
old Jenny Bullard wore a parent tornado in Brooks
sling on her injured arm as County, which moved the
she combed through the home roughly 100 yards
rubble of her family’s brick before dawn Sunday.
house. All that remained “A tornado hit a mobile
standing Sunday afternoon home, picked it up and put
was the master bedroom it in the middle of Highway
and parts of the kitchen. 122,” Brooks County Coro-
“It’s a horrible tragedy,” ner Michael Miller said. “I
Bullard said. “But all this don’t know if it rolled or
stuff can be replaced. We was lifted, but it blocked
can’t replace each other. the entire highway.”
We’re extremely lucky.” Catherine Howden of the
Bullard said she awoke be- Georgia Emergency Man-
fore dawn Sunday to the agement Agency said ear-
sound of hail pounding the lier Sunday that the deaths
roof. When she went out- occurred in Cook, Brooks
side her bedroom door, and Berrien counties in
she was knocked down by southern Georgia near the
a collapsing wall in the hall- Georgia-Florida line. She
way. She managed to get said another 23 people
up and found her father were injured.
calling for her, trapped un- The sheriff’s office and
der debris. coroner in Berrien County
She pulled him free, and could not immediately
they found her mother in be reached for comment
the master bedroom. They Sunday, their phones
escaped by climbing over met repeatedly with busy
piles of furniture and de- signals.q