The heavy rain and high winds overnight caused extensive damage throughout the county – including pulling part of the roof off the Barrow County Administration Building.
“A large portion of the roof was ripped off the building by the heavy winds,” said Lt. Scott Dakin of Barrow County Emergency Services. “This of course created some flooding in the building as well.”
The Barrow County Health Department, which is housed in the building, was severely damaged and is closed. Both local and state employees have worked for hours to relocate the department's equipment and supplies.
Commission Chairman Danny Yearwood was alerted shortly after midnight about the roof damage and worked all night on site.
He said this morning that the health department would be closed indefinitely and likely will have to be relocated to another facility due to extensive interior damage.
Individuals who receive services from the Barrow County Health Department may receive care at the health departments in neighboring Jackson, Walton, Clarke and Oconee counties, according to a spokesman for the Northeast Health District of the Georgia Department of Human Services.
The county offices in the building are open but do not have power. That means the tag office will not be open until after Georgia Power restores electricity to the building and the surrounding area.
Yearwood said that is supposed to happen later this morning.
According to the Hartwell office of the Georgia Emergency Management Agency, approximately 22,000 Barrow County residents are without power.
Commissioner Ben Hendrix said he happened to go by the administration building before dawn to check his mail and immediately noticed something was wrong.
“I pulled into the parking lot and thought, ‘What on earth is on the roof?’” Hendrix said. “It was the roof itself, peeled back like a sardine can.”
With the roof peeled back, heavy rains drenched the same portion of the building, which in addition to the health department includes the planning, engineering and environmental departments.
“When they got there, there were six or so inches of water in the health department,” he added.
The storm also caused other damage throughout the county.
Two residences were damaged by falling trees, but there were no injuries.
“There are still trees down around the county and with the heavy winds still happening more trees and power lines may fall,” Dakin said.
“We also want to advise that Highway 11 from the City of Winder to Punkin Junction Road is closed due to multiple power poles that were damaged and will remain closed for several hours.”
As the storm moved in, the department opened the Emergency Operation Center and manned it with Chief Dennis Merrifield, Interim Deputy Chief John Skinner, Lt. Heath Williams and administrative assistant Penny Clack.
From midnight until 3 a.m. BCES responded to 30 calls about downed trees, 15 for power lines down, two motor vehicle collisions with trees, several fire alarms and one structure fire.
“Citizens are advised to use caution when driving today due to the amount of debris still on the roads,” Dakin said.
