National Weather Service confirms tornado in Gordon County during Thursday storm

GORDON COUNTY, Ga. - The National Weather Service (NWS) has confirmed that at least one tornado touched in north Georgia during Thursday's severe weather event.

Officials surveying the area in Gordon County Friday confirmed that the damage was caused by a tornado. 

All other details regarding the tornado's path and length will be released at a later time Friday, officials said.

The twister left a wake of damage and debris in its wake. The hardest-hit area was in the southern part of the county where officials said several homes were damaged.

FOX 5’s Claire Simms toured an area along East Plainview Road, which is one of the areas where a tornado possibly touched down.

Gordon County Emergency Management Director Courtney Taylor says some of the damage looks like just high winds while some looks like a tornado may have caused it.

The damage is apparent looking around. Roofs were blown off, insulation littered the trees, and aluminum from a home’s outer structure was wrapped around a tree branch.

Taylor says it's a miracle no one was hurt when a storm tore through the Plainview community at around 5 a.m. Thursday morning.

“People were home. They were asleep. We are truly blessed. God watched out for us,” Taylor said.

Taylor says the first 911 call came in almost two hours after the weather passed and first responders were taken aback by the scene of massive trees lying on their sides and debris scattered across people’s lawns

“It was kind of surprising when we got out here that we had this much damage,” said Taylor.

In all, Taylor says the storm impacted eight homes and six additional buildings. Looking at the damage, officials say they are to sure whether it was just strong winds or possibly a tornado that touched down here, but with so much damage across the Southeast as the result of the system, it will be Friday or Saturday before a team from the National Weather Service can come to assess the damage.

“It's really hard to determine. There are some areas that we can see… possibly could have been a tornado. So, we're looking forward to them coming out and giving us their expert opinion on that so will know for sure,” said Taylor.

FOX 5's Emile Ikeda toured a few of the homes which were torn apart by the powerful storm.

Residents along the road describe pure terror as the storm rolled in. One said they heard a loud roar and another woman recalled how she was outside when the storms rolled through.

DOWNED TREES, FLOODING CONCERNS AFTER SEVERE STORMS ROLL THROUGH NORTH GEORGIA

"And it just started pouring, the wind was blowing, and there was a loud boom and I turned around and like the back windshield of the car, the back window of my car was busted out and the baby was just crying," said Shelly Harris.

SKYFOX drone flew over the area showing the full scope of the damage. A line of down trees and power lines, shattered windows, roofs damaged or torn off, and debris scattered along the road.

“I ran upstairs, got all my kids are upstairs, so I got them downstairs, and it, all you could hear was just all the hail hit the house,” said Clint Woodall. “It was rough, it was scary. I told my wife, I said, ‘I don't get scared that easy, but I was worried then.’”

Officials with both Gordon County and the Red Cross have been out all day Thursday making sure the families impacted by this storm are getting the help they need.