Power Outage in Bonaire, GA

A tornado rapidly intensified as it approached the Bonaire |community of northeast Houston County during the mid afternoon |hours of Tuesday, April 5th. As the tornado went across an open |field near the Old Hawkinsville Road and Cullen Road intersection,|two large high-tension transmission (power) towers were destroyed|and another large concrete power pole was snapped near its base. |Winds between 135 and 155 mph are a typical maximum wind-load |range for these electric towers/poles, supporting the rapidly |developing, now strong (EF2+) tornado. ||The tornado crossed the open field and did significant damage to |multiple homes. The first house had large sections of its roof and|second floor removed/torn away, along with numerous large trees |surrounding the property snapped near their bases. Not more than |150 yards away (to the northeast), two additional homes were hit |hard, with one completely destroyed. The damage around these areas|was consistent with EF2 to EF3 rating, with max winds approaching|160 MPH.||Less than 2 minutes later, the powerful tornado hit the south |side of Stathams Landing (neighborhood) where multiple homes had |minor to significant damage, particularly along Fairways Drive up |to Fifth Fairway. The worst of the damage in these locations |occurred at several homes along Fairways Drive were parts of the |roof and second story were destroyed, in addition to numerous |large trees snapped and uprooted around the properties. |Thankfully, the tornado appeared to have weakened slightly here, |but EF1 to low-end EF2 damage still was noted. Beyond Fifth |Fairway (street) is just open field/marsh area before Sandy Run |Creek and the county line. Little additional damage occurred here |and this drastic weakening of the tornado was supported by radar |as well. [4/5/22: Tornado #8, County #1/1, EF-3, Houston, 2022:011].

The Houston County Emergency Manager reported numerous trees and power lines blown down across the the northern end of the county in a swath around 2 miles wide from Bonaire across Warner Robins to Centerville. Several homes and vehicles had trees fall onto them, no injuries were reported.

Powerlines down along 100 block of Allen Hwy.

The Houston County Sheriff���s Office reported three trees blown down in Bonaire. One tree and live power lines fell onto a vehicle entrapping the occupant. No injuries were reported to the occupant of the vehicle.

The Houston County Emergency Manager reported that widespread trees were down across the county. Nearly all unincorporated areas were without power.