Monroe County recovers from severe storm

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – The severe storm Monday afternoon hit Monroe County hard.

It had turned into a weak, driving drizzle, but the reaction to the damage was strong.

“I came back out and that tree was down, that tree had fallen,” said Mary Persons student Whitney Ray.

“I mean I was hiding in my closet,” said Mary Persons student Bryan Hong.

Ray, Hong and Hunter Benson all live near Gose Road, where the storm left few trees untouched.

“It was sunny, no wind, no rain and all the sudden we got an alert on our phones and we got out of the kitchen and went into the hallway,” said Benson.

Benson’s home was hit hard, a huge tree came crashing down.

“A tree hit our house, it was really loud,” said Benson.

Monroe County EMA Director Matt Perry says emergency workers have made good progress cleaning roads up.

Interstate 75 was blocked by a tree branch temporarily, but workers soon opened lanes back up.

The Mary Persons students were thankful for alerts about the weather on their cell phones.

“It’s really important to us because we were sitting right in the kitchen where the tree came through and it came right on our phone, so about a minute later it came on our phone, it hit our house,” said Benson.

It saved the Benson family, and many others.

“I would say it’s really important because it just shows us a lot of damage that happened, and I’m just glad no one was seriously hurt,” said Ray.

“We’re a community, we’ve got to stand up and help each other,” said Hong.

Making the community stronger while the storm weakens.

There was one reported injury–a tree fell through a woman’s house.

She was struck in the head, but is in stable condition and recovering in the hospital.

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