Tornado causes significant damage on Savannah area islands

An EF1 tornado caused minor to significant damage on Oatland and Whitemarsh Islands in Georgia Friday night, a news release from the The National Weather Service in Charleston confirmed Saturday night.

No one was injured or killed during the tornado, the release states.

The tornado reached windspeeds of up to 107 mph as it traveled on a path for about 2.35 miles over eight minutes at about 3:49 p.m. Friday, the release states.

“It was estimated to have snapped and uprooted over 100 large hardwood and softwood trees,” The release states.

It says significant damage was surveyed in the Grays Subdivision area were large and uprooted trees fell onto approximately 50 homes.

Marsh Point Elementary School sustained moderate damage to the roof, while bleachers at Islands High School were toppled, according to the release. Both Schools are in the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System.

The district posted pictures to Facebook on Friday showing damage to Marshpoint.

About 19 staff members and 21 visitors at Oatland Island Wildlife Center were stranded as downed trees and power lines blocked the roadway into the facility, according to a release from the school district that runs the facility.

The release states the people were able to leave once ‘county crews’ cleared the road at about 7:30 p.m.

The center will remain closed indefinitely as facilities crews make repairs, a district Facebook post states.

Jeremy Nelson — WJCL Meteorologist — posted photos to Facebook that he took of the storm as it developed. The post also outlines a timeline of the tornado.

This story was originally published July 29, 2018 at 3:34 PM.