COVINGTON, Ga. — Joseph Gossett believes up to 70 trees on his west Newton County property were uprooted by an EF-1 tornado on New Year’s Eve.

Gossett and his wife, Aubree, were outside refilling a deer feeder at their Forest Road home, located just north of the intersection of Salem and Brown Bridge roads, when the twister wreaked havoc on the area.

“We’ve got a deer feeder out back,” Gossett said. “When my wife got home from work about 5:30 p.m., we went outside to go fill it back up.”

At that time, Gossett said the skies were relatively clear and there were no signs of the monstrosity headed their way.

“All of a sudden, the wind picks up – starting blowing really hard. And then it sounded like a heavy rain was coming,” he said. “That’s when my wife said, ‘We need to go get back inside.’”

Then, Gossett said, trees across the back of his 5-acre property began toppling down in droves.

“It looked like a T-Rex was coming through the forest,” Gossett recalled. “Trees coming down left and right by the roots — not snapping. They were being pulled up by the roots.”

Gossett said they darted back inside and sought shelter in a bathroom. But almost as quickly as it came, the storm passed.

“We stayed [in the bathroom] for about 15-20 seconds until it was over,” Gossett said. “From the time my wife got home to the tornado coming through, it was just about eight minutes.”

When the couple went to look at the damage out back, Gossett said they couldn’t open their back door — the entryway they utilized just a few minutes before. Forced to walk around the house, they later realized the storm had “slammed everything” into the back door, creating a barricade.

Thankfully, Gossett said, no one was hurt. The worst damage included fallen trees onto their pool and shop. Several other trees were uprooted across the property, he said. 

Gossett did say it felt like the tornado tried to pick up the log home but was unsuccessful.

Despite the many fallen trees, the Gossetts never lost access to electricity. 

They were not alerted of the storm until after it had passed, Gossett said, and heard no sirens until after the damage was done.

Per an initial National Weather Service report, the tornado first touched down around the Creekside Lane area, about two miles southwest of the Gossetts’ property, and traveled an approximate 2.5-mile, 75-yard-wide path along Brown Bridge Road at about 90 mph. A total of 12 homes were damaged, as well as a nearby school and some commercial property. Two vehicles were also upended in the nearby Chick-fil-A parking lot. Only six minor injuries were reported as result of the storm.