Macon Tornado

Please send your Tornado Damage pictures to photos@macontornado.com.
Be sure to include your name if you would like credit to be given for your photos on this site.

What Happened:

On Sunday, May 11, 2008, at approximately 5:37 am EDT, the National Weather Service out of Peachtree City, Georgia issued a Tornado Warning for Bibb County, Northeastern Crawford County, and Southern Monroe County in Central Georgia, to last until 6:15 am EDT. Only 17 minutes later, at approximately 5:54 am EDT, the National Weather Service issued a second Tornado Warning for Bibb County and Twiggs County in Central Georgia, to last until 6:30 am EDT. Both warnings indicated that a Severe Thunderstorm with conditions to produce a Tornado was moving through the area at speeds of 52 to 67 mph.

At approximately 5:50 am EDT, a Tornado of magnitude EF2 initially touched down near Lizella in Bibb County and moved eastward through Southern Bibb County, following a path along Eisenhower Parkway and Pionono Avenue into the city of Macon, and finally ended near the city of Dry Branch in Twiggs County. While the Tornado did not follow a continuous path or remain on the ground, it did pack winds of over 130 mph and cause significant damage to homes and businesses in the the area stretching from Lake Tobesofkee eastward to the intersection of Pionono Avenue and Eisenhower Parkway, including the Chambers Road / Harrison Road, Bloomfield / Macon Mall, Williamson Road / Rice Mill Road , and Pionono Avenue / Rocky Creek Road areas.

Macon State College, just southeast of Lake Tobesofkee, was severely damaged by the Tornado as at least 4 of the buildings on campus sustained damage and nearly 50 % of the trees on the heavily wooded campus were either uprooted or snapped in half. The Olympia Skate Center as well as the United Rentals buildings, both on Mercer University Drive, were significantly damaged. Hotels in the Chambers Road and Harrison Road area, just east of Interstate 475, experienced heavy damage including the roof being removed from at least one building. At the Macon Mall, part of the front facade of the former Parisian department store was ripped away with insulation littering the parking lot, and just across the street at Carol's Linens, nearly half of the front of the business was ripped away and laying in the parking lot. Near the Westgate Mall in the Pionono Avenue and Eisenhower Parkway area, numerous businesses, including JD Kinder's Furniture, Office Depot, Macon Carpet Outlet, Butler's Pet Hospital, and Krispe Kreme Doughnuts, experienced severe damage while a tire store on Pionono Avenue was completely demolished. In addition, homes throughout these areas were significantly damaged by the high winds produced by the EF2 Tornado as well as the downed trees that resulted from the Tornado.

By mid-day Sunday, Macon Mayor Robert Reichert had declared the City of Macon in a State of Emergency, asking residents to stay home, conserve water as power outages had taken the primary pumping station offline for the city, and limit use of cellular phones as emergency personnel were experiencing difficulties communicating with one another. Georgia Power had reported over 57,000 customers across the Central Georgia area were without power, with many areas unlikely to be restored until the evening of Monday, May 12. To make matters worse, over half of the city's traffic signals were either non-operational or nonexistent. Water was restored to the city at approximately 4:30 pm EDT when power was restored to the primary pumping station. However, by mid-afternoon Sunday, Mayor Reichert established an 8:00 pm EDT curfew that prohibited anyone other than emergency personnel to be out of their homes within the City Limits until 6:00 am EDT on Monday morning.

What It Looks Like:

These pictures have been submitted by people from the Central Georgia area. If you have pictures that you would like to submit, please send your pictures to photos@macontornado.com. Be sure to include your name if you would like credit to be given for your photos on this site.

tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty

tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty
tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty
tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty
tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty
tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty
tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty
tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty
tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Steven McGinty 		tornado
Submitted By:
Mary Hunnicutt
tornado
Submitted By:
Mary Hunnicutt 		tornado
Submitted By:
Mary Hunnicutt 		tornado
Submitted By:
Mary Hunnicutt 		tornado
Submitted By:
Missie Ayers		 tornado
Submitted By:
Missie Ayers		 tornado
Submitted By:
Missie Ayers		 tornado
Submitted By:
Missie Ayers		 tornado
Submitted By:
Missie Ayers
tornado
Submitted By:
Vernita Hill		 tornado
Submitted By:
Vernita Hill 		tornado
Submitted By:
Vernita Hill 		tornado
Submitted By:
Vernita Hill 		tornado
Submitted By:
Vernita Hill 		tornado
Submitted By:
Vernita Hill 		tornado
Submitted By:
Vernita Hill 		tornado
Submitted By:
Vernita Hill
tornado
Submitted By:
Vernita Hill 		tornado
Submitted By:
Vernita Hill 		tornado
Submitted By:
Vernita Hill 		tornado
Submitted By:
Vernita Hill 		tornado
Submitted By:
Vernita Hill 		tornado
Submitted By:
Vernita Hill 		tornado
Submitted By:
Vernita Hill 		tornado
Submitted By:
Vernita Hill
tornado
Submitted By:
Vernita Hill 		tornado
Submitted By:
Vernita Hill 		tornado
Submitted By:
Vernita Hill 		tornado
Submitted By:
Vernita Hill 		tornado
Submitted By:
Vernita Hill 		tornado
Submitted By:
Vernita Hill 		tornado
Submitted By:
Vernita Hill 		tornado
Submitted By:
Vernita Hill
tornado
Submitted By:
Vernita Hill 		tornado
Submitted By:
Vernita Hill 		tornado
Submitted By:
Vernita Hill 		tornado
Submitted By:
Vernita Hill 		tornado
Submitted By:
Vernita Hill 		tornado
Submitted By:
Vernita Hill 		tornado
Submitted By:
Vernita Hill 		tornado
Submitted By:
Vernita Hill
tornado
Submitted By:
Vernita Hill 		tornado
Submitted By:
Vernita Hill 		tornado
Submitted By:
Vernita Hill 		tornado
Submitted By:
Vernita Hill 		tornado
Submitted By:
Vernita Hill 		tornado
Submitted By:
Kelly Cheek		 tornado
Submitted By:
Kelly Cheek 		tornado
Submitted By:
Kelly Cheek
tornado
Submitted By:
Kelly Cheek 		tornado
Submitted By:
Kelly Cheek 		tornado
Submitted By:
Kelly Cheek 		tornado
Submitted By:
Kelly Cheek 		tornado
Submitted By:
Kelly Cheek 		tornado
Submitted By:
Kelly Cheek 		tornado
Submitted By:
Kelly Cheek 		tornado
Submitted By:
Kelly Cheek
tornado
Submitted By:
Kelly Cheek 		tornado
Submitted By:
Kelly Cheek 		tornado
Submitted By:
Kelly Cheek 		tornado
Submitted By:
Kelly Cheek 		tornado
Submitted By:
Kelly Cheek 		tornado
Submitted By:
Kelly Cheek 		tornado
Submitted By:
Kelly Cheek 		tornado
Submitted By:
Kelly Cheek
tornado
Submitted By:
Kelly Cheek 		tornado
Submitted By:
Kelly Cheek 		tornado
Submitted By:
Kelly Cheek 		tornado
Submitted By:
Kelly Cheek 		tornado
Submitted By:
Kelly Cheek 		tornado
Submitted By:
Kelly Cheek 		tornado
Submitted By:
Kelly Cheek 		tornado
Submitted By:
Kelly Cheek
tornado
Submitted By:
Kelly Cheek 		tornado
Submitted By:
Kelly Cheek 		           

More pictures have been received and will be available soon. Please check back often for updates.

Last updated Monday, May 12, 2008 at 5:54 pm EDT.