Welcome to ZZ Sumter Regional Hospital

Gwinnett Volunteers Head South After Tornado

By Heather Darenberg
Staff Writer
heather.darenberg@gwinnettdailypost.com

LAWRENCEVILLE — When Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans, the Gwinnett County Special Weapons and Tactics team volunteered to help with relief efforts.
Sunday, days after a town in southwest Georgia was devastated by a tornado that killed two people and destroyed a hospital, the county's SWAT team headed south to help.

The team patrolled the area immediately surrounding Sumter Regional Hospital in Americus, guarding narcotics, medical equipment and patient records still inside the uninhabitable hospital and a nearby medical facility, said Lt. Jon Spear, the assistant team commander. The team also helped enforce the city's curfew, stopping 200 people and making 25 arrests, he said. “We were not going down to take over,” Spear said. “We were there to help.”

Every pedestrian and vehicle passing through between 7 p.m. Sunday and Monday to 7 a.m. Monday and Tuesday was stopped because of the curfew, he said. While some people were arrested on outstanding warrants, traffic charges and drug possession charges, a few were arrested on weapons charges.
The 24 volunteers — 20 who are employed by Gwinnett County Sheriff's Department, two Lawrenceville police officers and two Gwinnett County Fire Department emergency medical technicians — arrived to find trees snapped in half, vehicles crushed and overturned, and hospital windows that had been blown out by the force of an F3 tornado.
Sheriff's Deputy Justin Lunt said he was struck by the structural damage — the twisted metal and debris — but the things that were untouched also left an impression.
“There was this one house — the whole front of the house was gone, but clothes were still hanging in the closet,” he said.

After seeing the damage, Sgt. Keith Cofer said he was surprised there weren't mass casualties.
“How more people didn't lose their lives is just an act of God,” he said.

The same storm system produced tornadoes throughout the southeast that killed six people in Baker County and eight people at a high school in Enterprise, Ala.
Sumter County is no stranger to natural disaster. In 1994, the deaths of 15 people were attributed to a flood that washed out bridges and roads throughout the county.
“We've never had a tornado,” Sumter County Capt. Coleman Williams said. “Ain't nothing down here normal.”
Williams said the response from agencies throughout Georgia has been “unreal.” “I don't think I can name them all,” he said. “Americus is not a great big area. Everyone's coming together and helping out. It's working out pretty good.”
The curfew has been reduced from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., and debris is being cleared away, he said.

Sumter Regional Hospital has set up a temporary site where the community can seek medical treatment until a more permanent location is secured, said Marcus Johnson, the hospital's director of marketing and public relations.
“(We're) running, running, running, but we're OK,” he said.
Johnson said the hospital is “very appreciative” of the help it has received from agencies such as the Gwinnett SWAT team. “We needed that amidst the chaos,” he said. “It's good to know someone has our back. ... We really appreciate it.”

Helping other communities suffering from a disaster helps the SWAT team prepare in case a similar emergency were to happen in Gwinnett, Cofer said. “If it ever does happen, at least we've overcome the hurdles of preparing to communicate,” Cofer said. “We're all really proud to serve.”

US Patent Numbers 7,720,998 B2, 7,836,207