MACON, Ga. — People were taking tree branches out to the streets and helping one homeowner put a tarp on their roof. Neighbors told 13WMAZ they are glad to be alive and figuring out what's next.
Angela Ward was born and raised in the neighborhood. She says she was asleep and heard the rain and a loud swirling sound. What scared her the most was when her french doors started shaking. When the rain stopped she saw her childhood home had lost part of its roof.
She says everything happened so fast.
"I saw the trees uprooted from the root, I saw the power line, my electric pole down, and then it was like woosah -- I'm just very thankful," Ward said.
A nurse with over 30 years of experience, finally met her match when the storm came through.
"I was sleep, it was raining, I heard the heavy, and then I heard like a train sound. Like "woo, woo, woo sound." That got me up out of my bed," Ward said.
Within 10 seconds it was over, Ward recalls. She said when it was over, she looked out the window next door and her mother's roof was gone.
Fortunately, Ward's mother lives with her and no one has lived in the home for years. Her childhood home is now roofless. What's left are the memories.
"I grew up in that home, high school, then I married a military man, then we moved away. And then we moved back. He retired two years ago, so we're home now," Ward said.
On Fraley Avenue, Paul Pearson told 13WMAZ the storm came out of nowhere. He was sitting at home when the tornado came.
"I haven't seen anything like this in my whole entire life," Pearson said.
Neighbors now are working together to clean their street and they have a new memory of life in Milledgeville.
Ward thanks the city of Milledgeville and all the electrical workers who came out and fixed the power outages at her home.