Devastation lies in the wake of Sunday tornado

ALBANY — Search and rescue workers continued the grisly task Monday of searching for victims of a deadly tornado that struck east Albany Sunday, leaving at least four dead and several neighborhoods in shambles.

Dougherty County Coroner Michael Fowler released the names of two of the victims late Monday afternoon.

“We have a positive identification of two victims so far that we have released to the funeral home,” Fowler said at a news conference in his office. “Oscar Reyna, 39, was killed in Paradise Village trailer park, and Paul Freeman, 82, lived on Newcomb Road in a brick home. The cause of death for both victims was multiple blunt force traumas because of multiple impact injuries caused by debris and structural collapse.”

According to Fowler, the names of the other two confirmed victims will be released today after family members provide positive identification.

Following a wave of intense thunderstorms that rolled through the southeast over the weekend, a storm that’s being described as a tornado by witnesses carved a path of destruction across southeast Albany Sunday afternoon, leaving at least four dead and countless others injured, displaced or homeless.

Many roads remained nearly impassable on Monday, blocked by broken trees, many snapped off mid-trunk, and downed utility lines. Wind-driven debris littered roadsides and impacted homes, causing widespread structural damage for several miles.

Some of the worst destruction occurred in the Radium Springs area along Holly Drive approaching the intersection of U.S. Highway 19. Paradise Village Mobile Home Park, located at 600 Holly Drive and directly in the path of the twister, was almost completely destroyed.

“We have four confirmed fatalities right now,” Fowler said. “They were on Holly Drive at the trailer park and another one was a couple of blocks over. There is a good possibility that we will see that number rise. There are a lot of people out there who remain unaccounted-for, and family members are looking for them.”

Emergency crews were on the scene Monday, continuing to comb through the massive amount of debris from mobile homes that simply disintegrated in the powerful winds, many while residents were still inside. Other homes were flipped on their sides, completely rolled upside down, or, in some cases, wrapped around trees.

“We came out of it, but I don’t know how,” said Paradise Village resident Jean McConnell. “Nobody around us did, though. My neighbors were killed. My daughter was running around covering up bodies. We were grabbing blankets and sheets out of the house, trying to keep people from seeing any more than they had to.

“It was the worst thing ever. It actually picked us up and set us down. We saw the roof coming up on the front, but a tree hit us and I think that is what kept it from taking my roof off completely and literally sucking us out. I had to lay on top of my grandson to hold him down.”

“My sister was hollering, ‘Mama it’s getting me, it’s getting me,’” said McConnell’s daughter, Leslie, still visibly shaken. “I had to snatch her, and somebody moved over on top of her. We had to wedge our feet and hands in the hallway to keep it from getting us.”

The McConnells were overcome with a measure of joy in their grief as rescue volunteers emerged on the roadway with their pet parakeet, still in its cage, covered with a bed sheet and chirping a song of survival.

As sirens wailed and emergency personnel searched, many storm survivors wandered dazed and aimless among the destruction of their former homes, now unrecognizable, hoping to salvage anything of value.

Volunteers streamed into the area, most of them on foot, bringing necessities such as water, food and clothing for those who had lost everything.

“My ex-husband and his wife live back in here, and I am trying to make my way through with supplies,” said Doreen Allen. “My daughter is away at school, and he sent her a picture of the house she grew up in and it is destroyed. They told me they needed supplies, so I am walking in. They live on the backside of Radium Springs, near the middle school. When the storm hit, they went to the basement and said it sounded like a freight train drove through the house. When it was done, everything was gone.”

Emergency personnel at the scene would not comment on recovery efforts, saying they were told by city officials not to disclose any information, but it was clear a massive effort was under way.

File Photo