June 18, 2009

LINCOLN CTY, Ga.---There are scattered reports of storm damage in our area from last night.

The storms went through the Knox Boy Scout Camp near the lake in Lincoln County at around 5 o'clock this morning. Part of a tree fell on a tent, but everyone crawled out safely, and scoutmasters made sure everyone made it to shelter.

As many as 200 scouts are there this week.

A quick glance at the Boy Scout Camp and you'd think everything is good. It was all good, until early Thursday morning. "The wind started picking up and eh, we knew it wasn't good," says scout staff member Patrick Garcia.

Then, things got worse. "It was pretty stressful for a little bit," adds Patrick.

The storms rolled through and left a mark. But, eventually all calmed down as all the scouts were together and safe, suffering only some minor injuries. "They were kind of bored when they came up here (to the center pavilion) and asked if they could just go to sleep," adds Patrick.

They woke up to tents ripped apart, poles thrown about, wet clothes hanging on ropes and trees just snapped in half.

Just as scouts do, they all planned for the worst and their emergency plan was put into action by some scouts and the staff.

"And, they followed it to a 'T' to ensure everyone's safety there.. and like I said, a little intervention (helped)," says Camp Director Chap Shearouse.

"We worked together. The site staff helped to make it pretty easy when you work together," adds Patrick.

As the old Proverb says, many hands working together makes the load less heavy.

(The first two photos below were sent to us from Martinez-Columbia Fire Rescue.)