South Fulton tornado tore houses apart, brought neighbors together

White almost never sat alone on her front porch, which looked out to a well-manicured yard and two crepe myrtle trees.

But a week after a tornado ravaged this narrow swath in south Fulton County, the porch is gone. Only mud and broken pieces of her home remain.

The White family home of 16 years was hit hard: The tornado tore through the roof, shattered the windows, damaged several rooms.

A red piece of paper on the garage door made it unofficial: inhabitable, the paper says.

There’s no question White lost a great deal in the tornado. But one thing she didn’t lose is her community. And she was certainly not alone. Neighbors and nearby residents handed out blankets and sandwiches, bottled water, toothbrushes, plates of warm food. A steady stream of people stopped by to offer hugs, prayers and listening ears.

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Piles of debris – insulation, wooden rafters, pieces of siding, twisted metal from smashed cars – dot a stretch in this tight-knit subdivision named Chestnut Ridge, and many expressed gratitude that no one was seriously injured.

“I am so thankful,” said White, who is staying at a hotel with the help of the American Red Cross with her husband and their two grown sons. She’s looking for a short-term apartment since it will take several months for her house to be rebuilt. “It is a true blessing that no one got hurt.”

She also said she is leaning on her faith for strength.

“It’s worse than I could have imagined,” White said. “But my faith in God is keeping me going. I am not bitter. If God brought me to it, he’ll bring me through it.”

Also this week, Linett and Arthur Edgar, who live on the other side of the neighborhood and whose home was spared damage from the storm, walked up and down Jumpers Trail, visiting every house and offering to help with cleanup, offering bottles of water, granola bars and a moment of prayer. They were joined by members of their church, First Baptist Church of Fairburn.

More than 174 severe weather reports of large hail, damaging wind and tornadoes came in on March 19, according to Channel 2 Action News. The National Weather Service confirmed three tornadoes — one in south Fulton County and two in Haralson County — touched down late Monday evening. An EF-2 tornado touched down between Fairburn and Campbellton, according to the NWS. The storm damaged more than 50 homes with winds reaching 120 mph, according to Channel 2 Action News meteorologist Brad Nitz. The tornado path was one-half mile, and the twister moved about 45 miles per hour, Nitz said.

The storm was fierce and quick. Glenn Burns, chief meteorologist at Channel 2 Action News, said the actual funnel was only on the ground between 30 and 40 seconds and the storm damage was concentrated on a small part of this South Fulton neighborhood.

“Debris everywhere, roofs gone. It was like an atomic bomb was dropped,” said Daniel White Sr, husband of Sherice. White said he and his sons tried to huddle in a bathroom, but they didn’t make it in time and instead ducked with hands over their heads in a hallway. It was roaring loud, like a freight train barreling through their neighborhood. Immediately after the tornado touched down, White, who is diabetic, told his sons to go check on their neighbors to make sure everyone was OK.

In an interview with Channel 2 Action News, Venita Mitchell, a DeKalb County teacher, broke down in tears describing how a tornado ripped her life apart.

"I never saw myself being here. I never thought I would be. So yes, it hurts," she told Channel 2 Action News.

The home she and her family were renting on Caspian Drive was destroyed.

The toughest lesson she learned was letting her renter's insurance lapse.

"In the past I’ve always had it and nothing has ever happened. Then the moment I don’t have it. Bam this happens,” she said. "We came so close to losing our lives but we didn’t," she said.

(You can help Mitchell and her family by donating to their GoFundMe campaign here)

Down the street on Jumpers Trail, Jason Bellony stood outside his home and shared a harrowing a tale about huddling in a bathroom on the main floor. The house shook and as he, his wife Sophia and stepchildren Kristen, 19 and 14-year-old Ashton pressed their hands on the bathroom door to keep it closed against the storm's force, Ashton asked his mom, Am I going to die? She assured him everyone was going to be OK.

“But yes, we were all scared. We all made sure to tell each other we love you,” recalled Bellony.

And suddenly, it was as though the tornado curved around their house only to shred a series of other houses back to back along Jumpers Trail.

Afterward, Bellony and his family walked into the darkness around midnight, up Jumpers Trail where residents gathered.

“We all came together and looked at each other, and wanted to know everyone was OK,” said Bellony. “And everyone is OK. That’s a wonderful blessing, you can’t ask more for that.”

Bellony’s house suffered minor damage compared to his neighbors’. There were some roof and water damage, and he was still assessing the extent of it a week after the storm hit. But neither he nor other neighbors were feeling sorry for themselves.

“You can’t worry about things you can’t change,” he said. “The Lord says there something bigger than you, and you deal with it the best you can. You ask for strength and courage.”

For the White family, much of their furniture and personal mementos including framed photographs were too damaged to be saved. A professional cleanup crew gave them that bad news several days after the storm.

RELATED: Atlanta Weather today, Weather Forecast, updates and warnings for Metro Atlanta. In partnership with WSB-TV Severe Weather Team 2.

The rocking chairs from her porch were nowhere to be found. And only one of the two crepe myrtle trees in front of her house remained — dripping in strips of cream-colored insulation. Years earlier, she and her neighbors had started a tradition of putting large Christmas bows on their front-yard trees.

As she looked at her home in ruins, she held back tears and talked about returning to her community in a rebuilt house.

Meanwhile, Bellony had no doubt his little neighborhood will recover.

“Disasters happen,” he said. “You have to pick up the pieces. It’s like riding a bike. You fall down and you have to bandage your wounds, dust yourself off and get back on that bike. You can replace cars, you can replace houses. You can’t replace people.”