Six killed when tornadoes hit southwest Georgia

CAMILLA, Ga. -- Tornadoes killed six people and injured about 200 Thursday in rural southwestern Georgia, destroying dozens of homes, overturning farm equipment and ripping out trees like grass.

"It looked like a big lawnmower went through there," said Sheriff Freddie Tompkins of Worth County, where a twister cut a 10-mile-long, 300-foot-wide swath.

A 22-mile-long gash was left to the southwest in Mitchell County, about a mile south of the town where a twister claimed 11 lives barely three years ago.

Four people were killed in Mitchell County -- two boys, ages 8 and 8 months; a 40-year-old woman; and an older man, said Jennifer Collins, a spokeswoman for the Georgia Emergency Management Agency. Authorities said they did not come from the same household.

A man and his mother were killed in Worth County when a tornado hit their trailer near Bridgeboro, said Tompkins, who declined to release names.

The tornadoes came as a storm system swept through the South, bringing flooding to Georgia and the Carolinas. A man in Tennessee was killed Wednesday when his mobile home was leveled by a storm that also toppled trees and power lines.

The tornadoes in Georgia injured about 200 people and destroyed an estimated 50 to 75 homes.

All but three of the injuries and three of the destroyed homes were in Mitchell County, where a Valentine's Day 2000 tornado in the county seat of Camilla killed 11 people.

"It's a mess, but not quite as bad as last time," Camilla water department employee Joseph Willingham said.

Many of the injuries were minor, but nearly 60 people sought treatment for serious head and chest injuries, broken bones and cuts, Mitchell County Hospital spokesman Rick Ivey said.

Eric Moore's trailer south of Camilla was blown 100 yards away and crashed into a brick house, but he survived by taking shelter in his mother's house across the street.

"I know I can't run from the Lord, but I think we'll be a lot safer if we get out of that mobile home," Moore said.

Gov. Sonny Perdue toured the wreckage Thursday afternoon and declared a state of emergency in Mitchell and Worth counties.

In North Carolina, flooding forced officials to close a low-lying section of Interstate 40 just west of I-77 in Statesville, jamming traffic on both highways for miles.

Up to 4 inches of rain fell in parts of the state overnight Wednesday. Forecasters said they did not expect some larger North Carolina rivers to crest for days.

Many roads in South Carolina also were shut by flooding.