ADEL, Ga.—First there was the roar of the wind, then mere seconds to scoop up her grandson and run: Bridgit Simmons and her family knew the weekend storms that claimed more than a dozen lives around the South were threatening.
They had heard storm warnings all day Sunday, but that afternoon it all happened so fast as storms that killed at least 18 over the weekend moved across the Deep South. She, along with her parents, her daughter, and her grandson were in their brick home in the southwest Georgia city of Albany when the sky got dark and the wind began to howl.
“I was in the den and I heard that loud roar and I grabbed the baby and I said, ‘Let’s go guys. This is it.’ We laid down and that was it.” The wind was so loud, she added, “you could hear it beating back and forth.”
Tense minutes went by. Then the storm moved on, the sky lightened and the winds calmed.
