EF-1 Tornado hammers LaGrange damaging homes, businesses

LAGRANGE, Ga. - A tornado blasts the city of LaGrange. It happened Thursday night as severe storms barreled through Troup County. Swirling winds toppled trees onto buildings and homes.

One resident, Scott Arrington, says he is lucky to be alive. "I didn’t know what was going on to start with," Arrington said.  

He could not see anything at first. But what he heard was unmistakable. "Like 10 or 15 locomotives right inside the room with you. It’s deafening," Arrington said.

The National Weather Service confirms an EF-1 tornado barreled through LaGrange, sending Arrington and his family hurrying for cover. "The pressure just pushing in on your head," he said. "We tried to get from upstairs and get downstairs."  

The tornado sent a tree smashing through the roof of the house next to Arrington’s. "I came to the door and notice a tree down."

No one was reported injured in the storm that blazed a path of destruction, toppling trees onto homes and buildings. Crews worked throughout the day trying to clear the damage.

Swirling winds ripped apart the roof of the Troup County Health Department, shredding and mangled a fence at nearby Callaway stadium. "It just wiped out a whole community and went across here," said James Hall who works for Scott’s Tree Service.

Hall says the community is still recovering from severe storm damage just a couple of weeks ago. "It’s been really bad for the last couple of weeks for these folks. The storm is coming through here back-to-back and it’s taking people’s homes. It’s pretty devastating."