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Fatal tornado sends 'double whammy' to NW Georgia

7 confirmed dead by Monday afternoon in Murray County

CHATSWORTH, Ga. — Seven people died in a tornado that hit a community northwest of Chatsworth in Murray County overnight.  The storm struck there shortly before midnight Sunday.

National Weather Service officials said that a tornado was responsible for the damage in the community. 

"Their trailer was over here and it blowed 'em over here," said Andrew Brantley, pointing at a debris-ridden plot of land across a narrow road.

In this hilltop community, there was destruction as far as the eye could see.

"There used to be a double-wide right here," Brantley said, pointing behind him.

It was a storm that seemed to target a community composed mostly of mobile homes -- dwellings that often lack staying power in the face of a tornado.

"A lot of people died in this," said Brantley, taking stock of the grief visible on the faces of many onlookers and residents.

Residents and officials had counted seven casualties by midday – including the two women who lived in a house that had been fastened to a brick foundation.

Rebecca Beck had been sheltering in place, her daughter said. The storm took her life, and the life of her roommate.

RELATED: Seven people killed in mobile home park in overnight storms

For a while Monday afternoon, Gov. Brian Kemp was among those surveying the damage. 

Adding to the ongoing Coronavirus state of emergency experienced by the entire state, this community got what Kemp called "a double whammy."

"One guy told me there wasn’t any place he could go," Kemp told reporters. "They just had to make the best of a bad situation, but it is ... when you look at these, it’s a miracle anyone lived through it."

"This is our house right here, and it used to be down there. It picked it up and flipped us around and under something," said Miguel Castillo, who was with his sister and her two small children inside a house that suddenly went airborne.  

"We were honestly afraid it was going to come back. We don’t know how these things work. Never been in anything like this you know," Castillo said.

The two adults and two children survived; Castillo said his sister needed stitches for a gash to her leg.

"Truly God was with us," Castillo said. "I wish others were as fortunate."

Survey teams from the National Weather Service said Monday afternoon that preliminary information allowed them to determine that the storm that hit Murray County was a tornado. Additional details regarding the strength and how long the tornado was, was still being compiled late Monday.

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