COWETA COUNTY, Ga. — An EF-4 tornado that slammed into Newnan overnight on Thursday and Friday was a mile wide at its peak with maximum wind speeds at 170 mph, according to the National Weather Service.
The preliminarily report shows that the tornado is believed to be the same one that moved through parts of Alabama as an EF-2 not long before, the NWS report said.
The details show the storm originated form a supercell thunderstorm that spawned a long-track tornado in Alabama just before 11 p.m. then lifted near the Alabama/Georgia state line, the NWS said.
Another tornado redeveloped around 11:37 p.m. in Western Heard County near Franklin, according to the NWS, and traveled almost 39 miles east-northeast through Coweta and Fayette Counties bringing a historic EF-4 tornado to the area.
One death was reported in association with the storm in Georgia.
The NWS Friday survey focused on the hardest-hit areas of Newnan - south, and southwest of Downtown and in and along the areas surrounding LaGrange Street, Smokey Road, and Newnan High School.
Damage was so significant that crews are still working to clean up roads and restore power as the school system works to figure out how - and when - it will reopen.