HOBBS: Helene unleashed wrath in parts of the state I love greatly

Published 7:00 am Tuesday, October 8, 2024

I’ve covered many storms, tornadoes and hurricanes during my long career as a newspaper reporter, but I’ve never covered one as powerful as Helene in Georgia.

She was one of the most deadly storms in modern day times in Georgia, claiming the lives of both adults and children in both Thomson and in Sandersville where I’ve reported lots of stories over the years.

It saddened me greatly that this storm took as many 33 lives in Georgia alone, and dozens and dozens more in North Carolina, and Tennessee. Hundreds are reportedly still missing in those neighboring states.

It was just a little over a week ago that Helene unleashed her fury on a number of counties in central and east central Georgia.

She brought with her devastating hurricane-force winds between 84 and 100 mph in places where I lived and worked for many years. Some of those beloved places include: Thomson, Warrenton, Appling, Harlem, Grovetown, Martinez, Evans – all in Columbia County; Augusta-Richmond County, Hephzibah, Blythe, Waynesboro and many other cities in Burke County, Jefferson and Glascock counties, Swainsboro in Emanuel County, Wrightsville in Johnson County, Dublin in Laurens County, Sandersville in Washington County, and North Augusta, S.C.

For those of us who live and work in Georgia’s Lake Country, which is in the central part of the state, we realize we were the ones who were supposed to get the worst of the storm. But as it turned out, the storm’s winds blew it more easterly and the wrath was felt much more so in the Augusta-Richmond, Columbia, and McDuffie counties, as well as many other counties south of Augusta.

God definitely spared us from the brunt of Hurricane Helene. And I am very thankful.

However, I am deeply saddened for family members and for longtime friends, even people I don’t know who have had to experience such a catastrophic storm as this one.

For several days, thousands of them have been without electricity. Hundreds are still without power because their homes were heavily damaged or destroyed by Helene.

My father in-law, Ed Scott, who lives in Martinez, Ga., was one of the victims of the storm.

He easily could have been killed when a large pine tree fell onto the roof in the corner of his home where his bedroom was located. I’m so very thankful that God spared his life, and he wasn’t injured.

His home was significantly damaged and the carpentry shop with all his expensive table saws in the backyard of his home was destroyed by another fallen large pine tree.

My father-in-law, now 86, is a proud man and has always been a hands-on guy – great with any kind of carpentry work. More than 40 years ago, he built his large carpentry shop in the backyard of his home with his own two hands. And now it’s destroyed.

Many years ago, he built onto his home in the same way and now it’s significantly damaged.

Like so many thousands of storm victims, he’s now attempting to recover. He was scheduled to meet with an insurance representative Monday morning to assess the total damages.

As I look back on the storm, I can’t help but feel the deepest compassion for him and so many others who have experienced something many of us have never witnessed around these parts in our lifetime.

I truly thank God for sparing the lives of my father-in-law, as well as my brother-in law in Valdosta, my brother and sisters, my son and their families in the Thomson-Dearing and Appling area, too. Thank you, Father God for being so good to me and my family.

Now I humbly pray that you will watch over those still grieving for loved ones killed during this storm and help comfort those wondering how to rebuild their lives again.

I pause now to publicly thank you God for your grace and the abundance of blessings you bestow to me each and every day. Let me never take any of those things for granted.