PEMBROKE, Ga. — National Weather Service officials announced Friday the fatal tornado that struck Bryan County, Georgia, on April 5 has been upgraded to EF-4 intensity with winds of 185 mph.
With winds of 185 mph, it surpasses the 170 mph tornado that happened in Winterset, Iowa on March 5, making it the strongest to occur so far in 2022.
The tornado began just west of the Bryan County Courthouse in Pembroke, where it damaged part of the roof, blew out some windows, and snapped numerous trees.
Shortly after, it moved over a wooded, marshy area, producing massive tree damage, and heavily damaging a residence on Stubbs Farm Road.
The tornado then continued east-northeast moving through Hendrix Park, the Park Place subdivision and the Black Creek Golf Course, where it reached its maximum EF-4 intensity and width of approximately three-quarters of a mile.
Four individual damage points in the Park Place subdivision prompted the EF-4, one of which was bolts holding a foundation being bent.
Across this area, the tornado extensively damaged most of the homes, structures, and trees. Some homes and structures were completely destroyed. Several injuries, some serious, occurred in this area as well.
Several mobile homes were completely destroyed, and one fatality and additional injuries occurred in the vicinity of Homestead Drive.
The tornado began to weaken as it moved toward the interchange of Interstate 16 and U.S. Highway 280. In this area, there was some minor roof damage to a large industrial building off Oracal Parkway Circle, as well as some snapping and uprooting of trees.
It finally dissipated in a marshy region just east of Oracal Parkway Circle.