MITCHELL COUNTY, Ga. (WALB) - The steeple on the Pebble City Baptist Church is knocked over and a window is busted, but only 100 yards away the Mitchell County community center is reduced to rubble.

Pastor Ronnie Kinsaul believes God spared his church.

“The Lord was with us. He caused it to possibly jump over or go around us”, Pastor Kinsaul said. “It’s quite a little bit of damage, but it’s nothing that’s going to stop us or anything. He saw fit to leave a building here.”

The tornado touched down around 6:15 a.m. Sunday morning. Two hours later, the sun was up, and power lines were being repaired on the property. Seven members of the congregation gathered on the front pews as Pastor Kinsaul prayed and gave thanks for their safety.

“It could have been quite devastating for us”, he said after the prayer.

The view looking out the church entrance shows how close the congregation came to losing its place of worship. Tall trees are uprooted and others are cut in half like toothpicks. Just beyond that wooded field of debris, the Michell County Community Center and the Pebble City Volunteer Fire Department were both flattened.

WALB News 10’s First Alert Meteorologist Chris Zelman was reporting live when the tornado was on the ground. He warned viewers the tornado was moving northeast. Storm damage seen hours later indicates it did move northeast near Sale City.

Michael Young was in his home on Highway 37, watching the news, when he believed the tornado narrowly missed his home.

“I was inside watching WALB News, listening to the updates. Thank God they were on and we had power from Mitchell EMC”, he said. “As soon as it started getting close, I started running to the bathroom and windows started busting out. I got really scared for about five seconds”.

A large, uprooted tree fell just next to his home, but Young said the storm shook his foundations, and he’s not sure if the structural integrity is intact. Outside, his shed is in pieces and everything that was in it is scattered in on his lawn. His father-in-law was in the home next door and it too was damaged, but he wasn’t hurt either.

According to Mitchell County Administrator Gary Rice, the county had a lot of downed trees, but there were no reports of injuries.

“We really don’t want to get a lineman or any of the emergency crews injured, so we’re asking everyone to please stay out of the area if they can, unless they have absolute business here. That will give us an opportunity to start the cleanup,” said Rice.

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