'I was screaming': Georgia woman trapped in car swept up by tornado
COVINGTON, Ga. - A Newton County woman says she is counting her blessings after a tornado flipped her car into the air.
Alisha Jacques was at the drive-thru of a Chick-fil-A in Covington when an EF-1 tornado touched down and crossed through the parking lot.
EF-1 TORNADOES DECLARED IN CARROLL, NEWTON COUNTIES ON NYE
Jacques says she and her brother had just placed their order at the fast-food restaurant on Brown Bridge Road when the clouds grew dark.
"Out of nowhere, a transformer blew out," she said.
At first, she paid no attention.
"I didn't think of anything until I saw it was getting closer," she said.
She saw people scrambling for their lives, but didn't have time to back up out of the drive-through. The tornado lifted her car into the air and smashed it onto the ground.
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"It just picked up my car and threw it and did it like three of four times," Jacques said.
Jacques and her brother were pinned inside the wreckage. A Chick-fil-A manager was able to get her brother out, who then rescued her.
"I thought I was going to die," she said. "It was awful."
Amazingly, other than some scrapes, bruises, and soreness, the siblings are physically OK.
ISOLATED TORNADOES LEAVE BEHIND DAMAGE ACROSS NORTH GEORGIA ON NYE
"This was a miracle - angels watching above me and my brother," she said. "Thank God that I made it out alive and it could’ve been worse."
Her car is totaled, but Jacques said cars are material and can be replaced.
In total, no one was injured by the tornados in Carroll County and four other people were hurt at the Chick-fil-A. No deaths were reported in either event, the National Weather Service said.