Clean-up continues after deadly tornado in North Georgia

WALKER COUNTY, Ga. - Saturday afternoon was the first time Kaitlyn Croomer saw Mother Nature's destruction since Easter Sunday when a tornado touched down in her yard.

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"All of a sudden, the lights went out. About 10 to 15 seconds we heard the whistle - we knew to get in the center in the house - and it was over," Croomer explained.

Saturday debris was still scattered around her family's property in Walker County.

Cromer found clothes and scrap metal on the ground.

"I had an outside barn here that i kept my horses up and that was completely gone. Where i’m standing right now was a pole barn where we kept our equipment," she said of the aftermath.

Family and friends have gathered to start rebuilding.

Even though the barn area is what she calls her "second home," Cromer's biggest worry right now is the two horses that were outside in the thick of the storm.

SEE ALSO: Worst storms expected to arrive in north Georgia Sunday afternoon into the night

"The first horse, he had a serious cut on his right side from his butt all the way to his flank," she said. "The second horse, he had debris stuck in him and a severe cut on his knee."

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Cromer said had the horses been in the barn, they would have been killed.

Right now, both horses are being treated in Tennessee.

"They are performance athletes. They are barrel horses, and they are very good at what they do," she said.

Just passed snapped tree branches and pieces of metal, sits her uncle's house several yards away - destroyed.

"Their kids have grown up there. To lose that house - they're gonna have to knock it down and rebuild it," Croomer said.

Cromer says the tornado centered on the area near her home.

She told FOX 5's Brian Hill the horses have a long road to recovery. If you would like to help Croomer raise funds for their recovery, click here.