High winds caused minor damage, including tree limbs falling throughout the county Sunday, Liberty County Emergency Management Agency Assistant Director Larry Logan said the worst damage was at the Friendly Express at the corner of Highway 84 and Airport Road in Walthourville.
The high wind Sunday night caused several trees to fall on or near the convenience store.
Tornado watches were in effect across the region much of Sunday evening, as a front moved through the area.
Rick Lytle, director of operations for Friendly Express, said he was first called at around 9:30 p.m. and told the power was out.
“I sent the district manager up here to check things out,” Lytle said. “At that point we recognized there were some trees down that had knocked the power out and had possibly damaged the roof. We verified this morning though there was no damage to the building. On our property, there are possibly five trees still down… It’s a mess.”
Monday morning crews with Georgia Power employees and other workers were still cutting and clearing trees that had fallen on either side of the gas station. Despite the damage and power outage, Lytle chuckled, saying he liked the smell of fresh cut pine trees.
He said Georgia Power personnel responded around midnight to a power line that normally stretches over U.S. 84 that had fallen in the highway. He said he hopes to have power restored to his Walthourville store by 2 p.m.