PIKE COUNTY, Ga. — Strong winds and damage reported in Pike County were the results of just the second tornado confirmed so far from storms that swept through on Saturday, officials say.
The National Weather Service released information on Sunday evening that specified the tornado as an EF-0 with winds between 75 and 80 mph.
Authorities believe, based on their analysis, that the tornado touched down just northeast of Concord in west-central Pike County around 6:27 p.m. It then snapped and uprooted multiple trees before lifting near the intersection of West Road and Hollonville Road around 6:32 p.m.
In its roughly 5 minutes on the ground, the tornado covered 2.1 miles and had a path about 200 yards wide. Most of the damage was focused in the area of West and Bottoms roads - primarily to pine trees.
It's only the second such tornado to be confirmed by the National Weather Service since remnants of the storm known as Delta swept through Georgia on Saturday.
During a stretch of several hours on Saturday night, tornado warnings popped up around metro Atlanta and north Georgia. One of the earliest incidents happened in Newton County around 5 p.m. at a homeless shelter that was damaged.
Data later showed that an EF-1 tornado carved a nearby path north from the area of Washington Street and Walker Bend Parkway to Woodhaven Drive located just south of I-20. That tornado traveled about 1.43 miles injuring two.