EF4 Darien tornado, Georgia, May 11, 2008

1. EF065 to 85 mph

   Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

2. EF186 to 110 mph

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. EF2111 to 135 mph

   Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

4. EF3136 to 165 mph

   Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

5. EF4166 to 200 mphthis tornado

   Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

6. EF5over 200 mph

   Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

7. Unrated

   The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Rating

EF4

Date

May 11, 2008

Touchdown

9:52 AM EDT (13:52 UTC)

Lifted

10:07 AM EDT (14:07 UTC)

On the ground

15 minutes

Path length

11.0 miles (17.7 km)

Path width

700 yards (640 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

9

Property damage

$13 million

County

McIntosh County

Touchdown point

31.410, -81.460

Lift-off point

31.400, -81.300

Record number

0805110752-01

A warm front lifted northward through southern South Carolina and southeast Georgia during the morning, with a strong cold front then sweeping through the area during the evening. This resulted in several rounds of severe weather across the region.

A survey team from the National Weather Service Office in Charleston, South Carolina along with other damage survey experts from across the country determined that the Tornado that struck McIntosh county Georgia on Sunday morning May 11, was a violent EF-4. The Tornado beginning and end times are based on radar data combined with credible ground truth reports. ||The Tornado formed at 952 am, approximately 3 miles northwest of Darien, Georgia and tracked east about 11 miles before dissipating at 1007 am as a water spout in Doboy Sound. ||The Tornado formed in a wooded area about a half mile west of Route 251 where numerous trees were snapped off. The Tornado strengthened rapidly as it approached and moved across Route 251.||The Tornado struck a Marine Sales and Services Business located on the east side of Route 251. The bolts for all but one of the anchored metal support beams for the metal building were snapped off just above the concrete slab. With the exception of the one metal support beam that was bent to the ground, the slab was wiped clean. Approximately 50 boats were tossed around and destroyed, with one 18 foot 4000 pound boast carried about 650 yards into some trees. A 32 foot 8000 pound boat was carried about 130 yards onto the top of the Gateway Behavioral Services Building. A vehicle that was parked in the parking lot was carried in the air 150 yards. One 125 horsepower boat motor weighing 300 to 350 pounds was carried 250 yards and deposited into the roof of a building. In addition, one of the boats had yet to be accounted for at the time the survey was conducted. Several other vehicles near the business were rolled or tossed and severely damaged or destroyed. No one was in the building at the time the Tornado struck and damage to the building and all the boats were estimated to be 5 million dollars.||Approximately 100 yards to the south-southeast of the Marine Sales and Services Building, the McIntosh Emergency Medical Services Building was destroyed by the Tornado with damage to three ambulances and one fire truck. Many of the metal support beams from this facility were torn from the concrete slab or snapped off. This building was rated for 120 mph winds. No one was in this building at the time of the Tornado because they were out on a non weather related call.||The Gateway Behavioral Health and Services Building was totally destroyed. This metal framed building with brick exterior was located about 100 yards east-northeast of the McIntosh Emergency Medical Services Building and 130 yards east-southeast of the Marine Sales and Services Building. The roof of the Gateway Building collapsed along with many of the outer brick walls. Many of the large load bearing metal beams were bent or knocked down. Portions of the metal roof were carried a mile away onto Interstate 95. Some of the roofing material was found 11 miles away on Sapelo Island. Of the 12 people that were in the building when the Tornado hit, 9 were injured sustaining broken bones and or lacerations. Six vehicles around this building were damaged or destroyed and a metal light pole and several trees were snapped off in this area. ||Two other businesses in this area suffered damage including damage to satellite dishes and two overturned tractor trailers. Damage to the Marine Sales and Services Business and the Gateway Behavioral Health and Services Building indicated that EF-4 damage had occurred with winds estimated to be between 170 and 180 mph. ||After leaving this area the Tornado traveled east and weakened. The Tornado reached its maximum width of 700 yards as it crossed Interstate 95, and then decreased in size and was mainly from 200 to 500 yards wide during the remainder of the path. The Tornado damaged or destroyed four billboards along Interstate 95, produced mainly minor roof damage to several dozen homes mainly in the Ridgeville area, snapped off or uprooted thousands of trees, some of them falling on homes or vehicles, and damaged or destroyed numerous outbuildings. ||A resident of Ridgeville, Georgia whose home suffered minor damage in the Tornado, took shelter in a closet after seeing a National Weather Service Severe Weather Statement on the television mentioning that Ridgeville was in the path of the Tornado. ||The Tornado also damaged the Blue-N-Hall Marina and Fishing Dock. In this area, a large boat hoist along with 18 boats and several boat trailers were damaged or destroyed. Several power poles were also snapped off and several vehicles were damaged. Numerous trees were also snapped off on Hird Island. The Tornado likely dissipated over Doboy Sound as a waterspout. Besides portions of the Gateway roof, lots of other debris including signs were deposited on Sapelo Island.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Moderate Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 12:35 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

The Jacksonville radar (KJAX), 107 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 13:51 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2008 tornado in GeorgiaEvery tornado in Georgia since 1950Warnings in force in Georgia nowThe forecast where you are

41 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.