Throughout the month of May, WMAZ is ‘rewinding the clock’ and looking back at some of the biggest weather events in Central Georgia over the last 20 years.
This week, Meteorologist Hunter Williams is taking it back to 2005 when Hurricane Katrina impacted the region.
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Katrina was the hurricane that devastated New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, but as it moved over land, its outer bands lashed out across Central Georgia.
The Robins Financial Credit Union near the intersection of Taylors Mill Road and Highway 49 in Fort Valley had to be completely rebuilt.
August 29, 2005
First the hurricane came ashore and battered the Gulf Coast.
Then the devastating aftermath in New Orleans, the broken levee, flooded streets and people stranded in their homes.
According to the National Weather Service, the deadly hurricane spawned 18 tornadoes in Georgia.
The first counties affected were west of Atlanta and one person died while several more were injured.
Later that night, an EF-2 tornado hit Peach County.
It touched down along Taylors Mill Road and toppled pecan trees before crossing Highway 49.
The tornado carved a path right through the lobby of the bank.
It hit minutes after closing, so instead of being full of workers, the building was empty.
Several weaker tornadoes hit Taylor County later in the evening damaging one family’s home and barn.
According to the NWS, it was the most tornadoes ever reported on a single day in August and Georgia’s only tornado fatality in the month of August as well.