Storms Cause Widespread Damage in Barrow

Strong winds during thunderstorms late Monday night and early this morning ripped a portion of the roof off the .

“A large portion of the roof was ripped off the building by the heavy winds,” Lt. Scott Dakin, spokesman for , said in a news release. “This of course created some flooding in the building as well.”

The majority of the damage involved the roof over the Barrow County Health Department. Firefighters with BCES, employees with the county buildings and grounds department and officials with the Georgia State Public Health Office worked to remove vaccines and other medicines as well as secure all medical records.

"This will be a long process to clean up and repair,” Dakin said. “The extent of the damage will not been known for several more hours.”

Areas of the building that houses several county departments, including planning and zoning, also suffered damage. A section of the building has been shut down to the public, however the county is open for business.

Widespread storm damage was reported throughout the county and emergency services personnel were busy for several hours as a result of the damage.

“The heavy winds caused many trees and power lines to fall,” Dakin said. “The wind also caused damage to several buildings.”

Two Barrow County residences were damaged by falling trees during the severe weather. No injuries were reported.

From midnight to 3 a.m., firefighters responded to 30 calls reporting trees down, 15 calls reporting power lines down, two motor vehicle collisions with trees, several fire alarms and one structure fire. As the storm moved in the department opened the Emergency Operation Center. 

“Citizens are advised to use caution when driving today due to the amount of debris still on the roads,” Dakin said. “There are still trees down around the county and with the heavy winds still happening more trees and power lines may fall. We also want to advise that Highway 11 from the City of Winder to Punkin Junction Road is closed due to multiple power poles that were damaged and will remain closed for several hours.”