SUMMERVILLE, Ga. -- Andy Allred may face months of clean-up following a strong twister that carved an eight-mile path through rural Chattooga County Sunday morning, but across the region there is a sense that the area escaped relatively unscathed.
"We are very lucky. Those people in Mississippi are planning funerals today," Mr. Allred said, surveying his yard littered with shards of wood that were once part of his garage. "We just have to clean up now."
Elsewhere, the weekend storm killed 12 people. In Mississippi, nearly 700 homes were damaged, 49 people injured and 10 killed. Two others died in weather-related accidents in Alabama.
Near Mentone, Ala., seven people sought hospital treatment after a tornado blasted a trailer park. Mentone Police Chief Lamar Bray said nine of 11 homes in the park were destroyed.
"It took us an hour just to clear the brush and get into the park," Chief Bray said. "I think just one person is still in the hospital today."
The National Weather Service in Peachtree City, Ga., said the Chattooga County funnel carved a path nearly a half-mile wide. The storm was classified as a strong EF-1 tornado, said Eddie Henderson, director of the county's Emergency Management Agency. Wind speeds topped out at 104 mph, the weather service reported.
Three tornadoes in DeKalb County, Ala., were classified as EF-3 storms, packing wind speeds up to 150 mph, according to the National Weather Service in Huntsville.
In the Teloga community in Chattooga County, Mr. Allred's neighbors saw eight homes damaged, a carport demolished, two airplane hangars ripped apart and two planes tossed about by the storm.
The tornadoes appeared to have started on top of Lookout Mountain near Highway 157 and lose power near Sand Pit Road, Mr. Henderson said.
Chattooga was mostly returning to normal Monday, but it may take some time for all the fallen trees and damaged homes to be righted.
"The clean-up always takes the longest," Mr. Henderson said. "The road crews are doing an excellent job and the county is going to set some contracts for private debris removal."
Eddie Bramlett, whose home sits on a hill a couple hundred yards from Mr. Allred's home, said that, despite losing two barns and multiple pieces of farming equipment, he was lucky.
"We were in the basement when the storm came, and we could hear it," he said. "We just knew when we came out that we were going to be missing a roof. But we were lucky. Our house is fine."
Despite feeling fortunate about his losses, Mr. Allred said he won't forget the storm.
"You hear about these tornadoes every year," he said. "But until you are in it, you can't really imagine what it's like.
"It lasted about 45 seconds, but there was a moment when I wondered if we were going to make it."
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