On Monday, April 13, 2020, a line of severe storms passed over Macon-Bibb County from 1:00 a.m. until 3:30 a.m. About 3:00 a.m. Varying amounts of damage were reported throughout the county and across the region. There was a significant amount of damage located along Zebulon Road between Bass Road and Peake Road. Based on what was seen there, the Macon-Bibb Emergency Management Agency contacted the National Weather Service (NWS) before 7:00 a.m. to report this damage. The NWS assessed the damage Wednesday afternoon, and based on the damage and radar data, determined an EF-1 Tornado with winds between 95 and 100 mph impacted the area.

The response to the weather didn’t begin with damage assessment, though; it started days before as the Emergency Support Functions organized by the EMA monitored weather forecasts in order to be prepared for whatever happened. Overnight Sunday to Monday, representatives from EMA, EMA Volunteer Group, Public Works, the Fire Department, Bibb County Sheriff’s Office, and Public Affairs staffed the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at 700 Poplar Street to monitor the weather, field damage report calls, communicate with the media and public, and respond to emergencies.

Throughout the night, law enforcement and firefighters were on call to respond to emergencies. Crews from Public Works and Facilities Management were on standby, waiting for the storms to pass so that damage assessment, road clearing, and repairs could begin as soon as possible.

Trees across the road had to be cut into manageable pieces and loaded onto trucks for removal, and smaller debris all had to be removed. This would allow public safety personnel access to all areas of the county, and Georgia Power and Facilities Management crews that ability to get to downed lines and streetlights.

“It’s always hard to leave your family during a storm or inclement weather,” says Public Works Director Tim Wilder. “However, that is part of our job, and I want to say, ‘thank you’ to our amazing people for a job well done.”

“We had significant traffic signal infrastructure damage, and our crews worked diligently all day to restore operation of all traffic signals by the end of the day,” says Facilities Management Director Rob Ryals. “I want to also thank the Sheriff’s Office Traffic Division for assisting us with manual traffic control and directing traffic to keep us safe.”

“We have the best emergency response team in the country, and I’d put them up against any other community’s team,” says EMA Director Spencer Hawkins. “Any time we are faced with severe weather, they are on the front line to protect us during and after the weather and get our entire community back to normal as quickly as possible.”

To see some pictures of crews in action, click here.