TORNADO FACTS ON COLUMBUS and GEORGIA 1950 TO PRESENT DAY

CONCLUSION: In doing research on the 1875 tornado, I made a couple of
discoveries that changed the way I look at early warning systems and my weather
radio, which I use with fire service, in N W Harris County. One of the
discoveries found was in 1875 the tornado had started in Chamber County, (part
is now Lee County) Alabama. The multi-vortex tornado, caused death and
destruction, as it cut a path across the Chattahoochee River, (across now Lake
Harding), into Harris County, as it begins its trip across Georgia to South
Carolina.
In 1875, there were no early warning systems as there are today.

 

TODAYS WARNING SYSTEMS: The Columbus area now has a modern alert system that
sounds an alarm from towers all over the city. The Radio and TV stations both
make warning announcements, direct to you by way of their media, to all of their
viewing or listening area around Greater Columbus and the Chattahoochee Valley
area. Local TV can post a warning, complete with maps of your area, appearing on
the TV screen. Color coded, for Warning or Watch Out For, on the area the
warning is for. Radio can interrupt programming for special weather bulletins,
you can hear while driving your car or listening at work, office, or home. The
National Weather Service in Peach Tree City, Ga. has a radio station on which
weather can be heard and storm warnings can be made. They even have a
sub-audible tone they can transmit that will turn on your home weather monitor
radio from a standby mode to listen mode so you will receive the weather
warning, when it is broadcast. This weather radio is not expensive and can be
used as a monitor, to hear the forecast at any time, or as a storm warning
device, that will automatically alert you when a warning is issued, even if you
are a sleep or busy doing other things and not listening!

LOCALITY ISSUES: Living in west Georgia has caused most of us who travel across the state line, to our west, to adapt to changes from one side to the other. Time Zone is one, Eastern Time in Georgia, central time in Alabama. Nothing very major to deal with, for use modern travelers. But, when it came to weather and storm warnings; in the beginning there was a problem! Alabama National Weather Service issues Alabama Storm Warnings and Georgia National Weather Service
issues Georgia Storm Warnings. Do you see a problem developing here; most tornadoes move through, going for the most part, west to east. Have you ever seem on the TV screen, an area map of Columbus; where Chambers, Lee, Russell, or
Barbour county in Alabama were colored red with a tornado warning? Have you ever thought how it was possible for the mighty Chatahoochee River, the state line, to hold off the tornado from Troup, Harris, Muscogee, or Chattahoochee counties in Georgia? Well the truth is, the tornado isnt scared of the Ga/Ala state line or the River! Its just two agencys covering two different zones! Have no fear, Columbus TV and Radio Stations have plugged the dike and with their new weather radar and monitoring both State Weather Services now give a view of the whole viewing area, for quicker warnings. So now you can see if a tornado come toward Georgia from Alabama at 80 miles an hour; there can still be some warning time and it want already be in the next east county in Georgia before a warning get out.

OUR MODERN WAYS MAY KILL US: With all the improvements local media is now
providing us, in early warning systems, we inturn have become our owe worst
enemy! Today, with the introduction of modern electronics, local TV and Radio
have become less important than before. We have traded off local media and its
storm warning ability for IPOD, computer games, Satellite TV and Radio, DVD,VCR,
CD, and Taped movies. When the warning sounds as we go through our busy lives on
our cell phones, who will hear it? For those that hear the warning or hear the
sound of a F2+ tornado coming; where will you go and what will you do? Did you
build a safe room in your new house? Do you have a underground storm shelter in
your yard?Are there any storm shelters where you work, shop or go to school?
Have your children been told what to do in case of a tornado? Think about it and
ask around! Do you even have a weather alert radio guarding your sleeping
household tonight? And they our cheap, at most electronics stores. Think about
it!

*FACTS AND HISTORIC STATISTICS: The City of Columbus is listed as #20 on the
national list of all cities in the U.S. of having a tornado. Georgia is listed
#13 of all the U.S. states. Georgia came in #4 in losses to tornados with
$55,000,000+. Between 1950 and 1995 Georgia had 928 tornados recorded. 1950 was
the first year records begin to be kept on tornados in Georga. Even though
Georgia can have a tornado anytime of the year, the most hazardest months are
March, April, May, and June. Average time frame is from 10AM to 10PM.
COLUMBUS,GA (1950-95) FO-9, F1-8, F2-1, F3-2, F4 or F-5-0 Total-20 Deaths-15
Injuries-502

HARRIS COUNTY(1950-95) FO-12, F1-12, F2-3, F3-1, F4 or F5-0 Total-27 Deaths-0
Injuries-10

COLUMBUS MOST DAMAGE: 4/18/53 F-3 Killed 8 Injured 495 3/31/61 F3
Killed 0 Injured 7

FORT BENNING: 3/13/54 F3 Killed 2 Injured 21

* information from Storm Prediction Center Historical Tornado Archives of
Georgia

Read My Informative and Historical Stories on columbusgaonline.com
Visit My Web Site by Searching "Whitesville, Harris County, Georgia"