Beauregard-Smiths Station Tornado - March 3, 2019

Event Summary

NWS Meteorologists surveyed damage in eastern Macon County eastward to Smiths Station in Lee County and determined it was the result of a violent EF-4 tornado.

The tornado touched down just southwest of Rogers Road and just northeast of U.S. Highway 80 in northeast Macon County. Initially some small limbs were broken off of trees along with some pine trees uprooted. The tornado then moved east across Calloway Baker Road and across Glassy Mill Road where more pine trees were uprooted.

The tornado began to strengthen as it moved further east crossing Macon County Highway 43 as it downed additional pine trees then crossed the county line into southwest Lee County. The tornado crossed Lee County Road 29 where the tornado removed the roof and nearly collapsed a quarter of the cinder block walls of a church along with uprooting several trees.

The tornado continued to intensify as it moved north of due east crossing Lee County Road 11 where it peeled back sheet metal off of the porch of a home and ripped some sheet metal off of two outdoor storage sheds and continued to uproot pine trees. Debris from structures and their contents were strewn along a tree line to the east of their original location and some evidence of weak ground rowing was observed along the surface tornado path.

The tornado reached its peak intensity just south of the intersection of Lee County Road 36 and Lee County Road 39 where it rolled a manufactured home and emptied its contents nearby on the northern side of the track while additional damage toward the southern portion of the track included the complete destruction of a house with all debris tossed a short distance from the foundation. The tornado bent the frame of a car around the remnant of a large tree whose upper portion had broken off and totaled three vehicles by severe impacts into the bases of two remaining tree stubs. Further east on the other side of the small lake, a well-anchored and constructed home was leveled with debris removed from the foundation and anchored bolt screws remaining intact. Toward the northern edge of the tornado, the destruction of two double-wide and a single-wide manufactured home was surveyed. This was the peak intensity of the tornado due to the combination of damage to the two houses along with extensive severe tree damage including trees snapped at their bases and large trees with expansive root systems fallen along with some sporadic evidence of ground rowing.

The tornado began to decrease in intensity as it continued east roughly paralleling Lee County Road 39 where two manufactured homes were destroyed with most debris deposited away from the original location and both of the metal frames of the mobile homes could not be located. Another manufactured home was destroyed with its contents deposited in a swath from the site into the remains of a nearby tree line. A car was found in an overturned position against a hardy tree stripped of most limbs with a mattress from a bed wrapped around the mid portion of the tree. A badly mangled metal frame of a manufactured home and debris displaced nearby was all that remained of one residence. Nearby a tractor trailer rig was on its side and shoved around a sturdy tree while a nearby site-built home lost nearly all of its exterior walls with debris remaining on or near the home site. Severe tree destruction continued into this area with trees snapped at their bases and uprooted. To the north of Lee County Road 39 significant debris were deposited in the wooded area where the tornado performed significant timber damage and toppled at least one high-tension power line tower visible in the near distance.

After demolishing two double-wide and a single-wide manufactured home the tornado moved northeast and crossed Lee County Road 51 just north of the intersection with Lee County Road 39 where double-wide manufactured home was moved off of its base and the exterior walls collapsed on a family residence while tree damage continued with snaps at the bases of trees. Some weakening occurred further east as the tornado crossed Lee County Road 38 where it deposited a large amount of debris into a ragged forested area. The tornado moved slightly north of due east, crossing Lee County Road 100 and Lee County Road 166 where it caused damage to trees with some trunks snapped and some trees uprooted.

Tornado damage continued further east along Lee County Road 165 and along portions of Lee County Road 40 and Lee County Road 2049 where it collapsed exterior walls of a family residence removed most of the roof of another house and caused some loss of roofing material from a house and a manufactured home then the tornado flipped a manufactured home and deposited its contents nearby along with destroying the roof and walls of a single-wide manufactured home and caused continued tree damage.

The tornado moved east across Lee County Road 170 then turned more to the northeast where it crossed Lee County Road 401 near the intersection with Lee County Road 175 and continued home and timber damage all the way to Lee County Road 241.

The tornado continued northeast crossing Lee County Road 245 and Lee County Road 179 with damage to the roof of a house along County Road 239 along with continued timber damage. The tornado then began to turn more to the east as it approached Phenix City from the west, crossing Lee County Road 239 and portions of Lee County Road 246 then affecting portions of lee County Roads 289, 292, 290 with damage to the roof of a house and timber damage.

The tornado crossed near Fullers Lake area where it rolled a manufactured home over and caused some loss of roofing material to a house. Additional damage occurred along Lee County Road 294 and Lee County Road 298 where a professional building lost some of its roof materials and damage to siding and roofing occurred to several small homes that were not well constructed. As the tornado crossed U.S. Highway 280 it caused some roof damage to a restaurant, damaged a billboard and collapsed a cellular service communications tower.

Timber damage occurred northeast of U.S. Highway 280 along Lee County Road 298. The tornado moved more to the right and affected areas along Lee County Road 318 and 319 where some roof damage to homes occurred and much in the way of timber damage resulted. A tree fell and crushed an outbuilding and a single-wide manufactured home lost portions of its roof. The tornado moved northeast from this point toward the Chattahoochee River where it caused roof damage to some houses near the river and downed a metal high-tension power line tower. The tornado crossed the Chattahoochee River and continued to produce extensive damage in Georgia.