CONYERS, Ga. — There are many stories coming out of the hardest-hit neighborhoods across Conyers, where an EF-2 tornado touched down just before midnight on Tuesday.
Fortunately, everyone survived, but the twister left a trail of destruction. It happened overnight, at the most dangerous time, as many people were sleeping.
Debbie Dunn and her family were among those who went to bed before the storm hit.
“We knew before we got into bed there were storms on the way,” Dunn explained.
It was just a few minutes before midnight when the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for Rockdale County that included Conyers until 12:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
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Dunn recalls the moment she was jolted awake.
“My husband woke me up, screaming, 'Get up, get up, get up!'” she recalled.
Dunn said that at about the same time, they started hearing hail pound against the back of the home and the roof. Then she said the roof literally collapsed.
“By the time I was getting up, the tree came through our house in my room,” Dunn said.
She said at that point, she was yelling at everyone to get to the bathroom.
“So I grabbed my grandbaby and were running to the bathroom,” Dunn explained.
As with most tornados, Dunn said, “It was over as quick as it came.”
On Wednesday evening, crews rented a large crane to help pull the tree out of Dunn’s bedroom and off their roof. She said their insurance company told them it would likely take at least a month to repair the damage.
She said because of the rain after the tornado, the inside was covered with water.
Even with the structure damage and the flooding, Dunn remains in good spirits, knowing things could’ve been worse.
“Everybody is okay, we thank God, you know,” she explained.
Dunn’s house was just one of many off McDaniel Mill Road that were damaged. The Red Cross is offering those who can’t stay in their homes a voucher to help them find a safe place to sleep until their homes can be repaired.
As of late Wednesday night, Rockdale County said they still had about 1,000 outages, mainly in Conyers, around the hardest-hit areas. At the peak of outages, there were between 8,000 and 9,000 outages.
Rockdale County said they are still assessing the total number of structures damaged or destroyed during the tornado.