The Two Tornadoes of 2023

Downed trees and power lines on Fitts Rd, a week after the tornado blew through the street.

On Thursday afternoon, July 20, 2023, two tornadoes ripped through East and West Pickens County. The tornadoes were confirmed by the National Weather Service on July 21, 2023. One was spotted on Fitts Road, just north of Cove Rd, and east of Bent Tree Community. The other was spotted along Carver Mill Road near Hinton.

The intensity of the storm lasted for less than an hour, and yet within that same time span, some 26,000 residents across Amicalola EMC coverage area were out of power. Within Bent Tree, there were over 1,000 homes without power. By Monday of the following week, there were fewer than 200 homes without power.

The tornado from Fitts Road moved northwest across a field and entered Bent Tree near Winding Way and Willow Terrace. From there it moved up the mountain, over Valley View Vista, and down to Little Pine Mountain Rd, before making its way to the first nine holes of the Bent Tree golf course, crossing over Duffer and North Duffer Drive near the fourth and seventh holes. From there the tornado moved over the north side of Mole Mountain and towards Kelso Road and Grandview Rd.

Hundreds of trees were down within Bent Tree and yet surprisingly, no homes were destroyed or cars, only a golf cart. Fitts Road, even a week after the storm looks like a war zone. About two dozen homes were damaged in the storm across Pickens County, and yet,

luckily no one died.