SANDERSVILLE, Ga. — Wednesday's big wind gusts that rushed through Washington County were, in fact, an EF-1 tornado. After ripping through north Sandersville, many families were left to pick up the pieces.
From downed trees and powerlines to roof damage, now people are starting to rebuild.
13WMAZ's Megan Western went to Walden Road in Sandersville. The subdivision saw major damages from the tornado. The streets were covered in trees and many houses were missing parts of their roofing.
Folks with the Georgia Baptist Convention Disaster Relief came out from far and wide to help a family in the neighborhood. Some came from as far as four hours away.
"We help people with physical help, which gives them a little bit of hope that tomorrow might be better," says Dwain Carter.
Carter is the Director of Mobilization and Disaster Relief. He says they had about 25 volunteers out picking up sticks and spreading God's love.
Quillian Mercer was one of the volunteers, and serves as the associational mission strategist. He says Washington County is his hometown, so he was happy to help out the community that raised him.
He adds that showing up for people during this time goes a long way.
"The lady at the house here said, 'My yard used to be so beautiful,' and I said, 'It can be again, because we're going to get it cleaned up and make sure it's safe,'" says Mercer.
Their work helped families like the Heltons. The 80-year-old couple says they've lived in their home since 1987, so they were so thankful the only major damage happened to their yard.
"We're just very fortunate to have friends and have volunteers like we have today to help with things like this," says Randy Helton.
Different cleanup crews could be found throughout the northern part of the county Thursday, including at the Dura-Line plant. That's where Wednesday morning's storm ripped off the roof.
A national weather service crew also came out to confirm the tornado.
'It's a little bit of a forensic science, we have to analysis the damage that happens and piece together the puzzle of what would have caused that damage and what windspeeds would come through that area as well," says surveyor Kyle Thiem.
In some areas, all trees fall the same way, in other areas trees cross over each other and fell in different directions. That usually means a tornado. They also look at other damage.
"Given the survey we've been able to do today, we can determine that we had a tornado come through the northern Sandersville area," Thiem adds.
While the community response was large and speedy, the cleanup could take months.
Crews like the Baptist Georgia Disaster Relief say they will be stationed out until all of their work with the Heltons is complete.