Flintstone, GA – It’s now known as the 2011 Super Outbreak. On April 27, 2011, the National Weather Service reported 216 confirmed tornadoes touched down across multiple states, including Georgia. 316 people lost their lives on that horrific day.
An EF4 tornado that originated in Section, Alabama made its way into Georgia through Trenton before weakening to an EF2 as it moved into Flintstone. According to NOAA’s storm event database, the tornado moved into Walker county near the intersection of U.S. Highway 27 and Georgia Highway 2.
The tornado took down thousands of trees and dozens of power lines, caused severe damage to dozens of homes and left 25 people injured. Thankfully, there were no fatalities in Walker County, but seven of the homes damaged were completely destroyed.
Walker County Emergency Management and Walker County Emergency Services (now Walker County Fire Rescue) spent the next several months in rescue and response mode. Here are some of the operations that took place:
- Emergency Services crews cleared debris from the roadway
- Emergency Services crews performed search and rescue operations
- EMA opened four area disaster centers
- EMA and CERT coordinated volunteers for over 7,000 hours to assist the community by providing; hot and cold food, drinking water, household cleaning suppliers, private property debris removal, private property access, animal care, elderly assistance, private structure roof tarping, resident transportation, private property generator setup, and private structure board up
- Sheriff’s deputies provided field security and extra patrols
- Public Works crews cleared roadways, repaired roadway asphalt and shoulder of roads
The following gallery has 200+ pictures of Walker County’s response to the 2011 tornado