Violent Storms Prompt GA State Of Emergency, 1 Person Killed

ATLANTA, GA — After hail, strong winds and tornadoes tore across Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp issued a state of emergency.

This allows state agencies to quickly respond to the needs of Georgians impacted by the storms.

"The state will continue to devote all available resources to the local communities in the impact area as they recover," Kemp tweeted Wednesday after touring Bryan County, which sustained extensive damage.

"The damage we’ve witnessed today [Wednesday] is devastating, and all who were impacted will need their fellow Georgians to rally around them in prayer and support in the coming days," he continued.

Unless extended, the state of emergency will expire on Friday, April 15 at 11:59 p.m. You can read the entire executive order here.

The violent storms resulted in heavy destruction and massive power outages throughout the state.

Residents in metro Atlanta also reported damages from the two back-to-back storms.

"It scared me so bad, I'm still scared. It took my whole living room, part of the top section out of there. There's a hole in another of the bedrooms." Marie Jordan told WSB-TV after a tree fell on her home.

The storms have also been blamed for at least one death in Georgia.

According to officials, one woman died Tuesday evening in Pembroke, which is about 30 miles from Savannah, when a suspected tornado ripped part of the roof from the Bryan County courthouse, destroyed the entrance to a local government building across the street and damaged homes in nearby neighborhoods.

Gage Moore, 23, was driving home from work Tuesday evening on Interstate 16 in Bryan County when his fiance called saying she heard tornado sirens. About two minutes later, Moore said, he looked up to see a towering twister looming to the left of the highway.

Moore said he pulled over and stopped his car behind an overpass, then took cellphone video of the funnel cloud churning across the interstate.

“Everybody started slamming on brakes all around me,” Moore said. “I could actually feel my truck shaking back and forth and hear the roar of it passing by.” He added: “Thankfully we all stopped and left a huge gap in the interstate where it crossed.”

In central Georgia, the National Weather Service confirmed that an EF-3 tornado with estimated winds between 158-206 mph touched down Bonaire in Houston County on Tuesday afternoon, WMAZ-TV reported.

"The street, the houses across the street, some of them, have completely lost their roofs. I don't know how long some of these residents will be without a home. It's just so sad and a surprise, for Heaven's sakes," Wynanne Hilliard, who lives in the area, told the TV station.

SEE ALSO:

• Large Tree Damages DeKalb Home During Storm: Report
• Buckhead Neighborhood Without Power After Tree Falls: Report

Meanwhile, residents, and local and state officials throughout the Peach State continue to access the damage.

According to Gov. Kemp, the Georgia region of the American Red Cross is currently accepting donations to help those impacted by the storms.

For storm victims in need of assistance, they can visit http://redcross.org/gethelp or call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).

The Associated Press contributed to this article.