HOUSTON COUNTY, Ga. — As cleanup continues across Central Georgia after this week's storms, the National Weather Service confirmed an EF-3 tornado touched down near Bonaire Elementary Tuesday and rapidly intensified.
It eventually entered the Statham's Landing neighborhood in Warner Robins. It's a devastating situation for several dozen homeowners who felt the brunt of the punishing winds.
Dianna Gonzalez is still stunned by the week's turn of events.
"The glass started coming through the house, the windows were breaking, and the trees were falling," she recalled.
A lot of homes on Fairways Drive now have tarps flapping in the wind like unwelcome guests. John Roland is a retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel.
"What you don't see up... we took that down this morning," he said while pointing to a pool where they removed most of the screening that once covered it.
Roland is a leader and he doesn't have a big chainsaw himself, but now he knows people who do.
"Several guys from the base and several people who live in Statham's Landing and two gals don't even live in the neighborhood at all, so it's a team effort," he said proudly.
Volunteers and some strangers showed their hearts through sweat equity.
Gwendolyn Krind suffered extensive damage at her house.
"John Roland said 8 a.m. and you best believe they were here at 8 a.m.," she said with a smile.
"Just like a miracle, there's so much debris and there's so much mess out here. You just come home everyday and go, 'What am I going to do next,'" said Gonzalez.
John and his crew will go house to house while professionals clear the big stuff.
For Gonzalez, she knows the wind can never damper the spirit of folks with a warmhearted spirit.
"People helping people; that's what it's really about," she said.
Roland says if you want to help, just show up and find their crew along Fairways Drive in Statham's Landing this weekend.