Georgia, 1998

Tornadoes in Georgia, April 9, 1998

April 9, 1998 · NWS CHS · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

3 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
4
Injuries
31
Property damage
$38 million
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
3

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

The radar

The Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 115 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 10:37 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Long

When
April 9, 5:35 AM EST to 5:45 AM EST
Where
Long County, Donald to 4 mi ENE of Donald
Rating
F2
Path length
2.5 mi
Path width
400 yd
Deaths
3 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries
24 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage
$200,000
Coordinates
31.830, -81.780

Tornado touched down in the Rye Patch Community where 3 people died (all were in mobile homes).Ten mobile homes were destroyed and two others were damaged along with a roof blown off a block house. Numerous trees were uprooted or snapped off above the ground.

Tornado, Liberty

When
April 9, 5:45 AM EST to 6:05 AM EST
Where
Liberty County, Hinesville to 8 mi NE of Flemington
Rating
F2
Path length
17 mi
Path width
400 yd
Deaths
1 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries
7 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage
$38 million
Coordinates
31.850, -81.730

F2 tornado moved from Long County into Liberty County, which encompasses much of Fort Stewart Army Base. One soldier was killed while in an administrative building and seven others were injured. Seven buildings were destroyed while another fifty-five(55) suffered different degrees of damage.

Tornado, Bryan

When
April 9, 6:05 AM EST to 6:10 AM EST
Where
Bryan County, Richmond Hill to 6 mi W of Richmond Hill
Rating
F1
Path length
5 mi
Path width
100 yd
Coordinates
31.930, -81.380

Several trees uprooted or snapped off as F1 ended cycle of destruction from the parent thunderstorm that moved from Long County through Liberty to the western edge of Bryan.

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

EventDateAgeSexWhereKind
Tornado, Long1998-04-2749MaleMobile/Trailer HomeDirect
Tornado, Long1998-04-0913FemaleMobile/Trailer HomeDirect
Tornado, Long1998-04-0930FemaleMobile/Trailer HomeDirect
Tornado, Liberty1998-04-0951MaleBusinessDirect

What these are

Tornado
A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Georgia in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Georgia, 1998Warnings in Georgia, April 1998

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5639380, 5638672, 5638673.