Home Depot Heroes

The tornado literally came out of nowhere. The weather guru's didn't even see it. No warnings or sirens sounded before the EF-1 tornado hit Lumpkin earlier this month.

Storm damage photo from Gainesville Times.

Thankfully, no one was injured but two homes were completely destroyed and another 12 homes damaged as the tornado swept across four miles in the southern parts of our county.

Within minutes after the tornado hit, a band of Lumpkin heroes - rescue crews, firemen and sheriff's deputies - appeared on the scene helping cut down trees, move debris, and save precious belongings.

Now for the rest of the story. Among those helping the tornado victims were a band of Dahlonega's Home Depot volunteers. The HD team worked for hours at the home of 82-year-old Katie Medlin. Starting at 7 a.m.,  fourteen Dahlonega Home Depot'ers cut down trees, chopped up limbs, and cleaned up Ms. Medlin damaged yard. But men and women from Home Depot didn't stop there. They worked their magic in the yards of other tornado damaged homes.

When Dahlonega Home Depot manager Fred Brown heard about the storm damage, he personally toured the area and realized that the homeowners needed help. He enlisted volunteers from his own store and then reached out to the Cumming, Dawsonville and Gainesville Home Depots, too.

"'We believe in helping others, whether it's putting customers first in our store or when there's a need in the community,' Brown said'" in an interview with the Dahlonega Nugget.  

It's in extraordinary times - when a tornado strikes or a bomb blasts - that true heroes appear. Here in Lumpkin, some of our heroes wear orange aprons.