Pop-up storm packs big punch, leaves damage in Dublin

A storm with little to no warning left a business’ roof in the middle of the street and knocked down several trees and power lines on Sunday.

The roof at Cullens Supply & Engine Services, 910 E. Jackson St., ended up in the middle of the street, near the Oconee River bridge, following a storm that hit the area.

“The road was blocked from the roof coming off,” said Dublin Fire Chief Matthew Cutler. “We called our city public works, and they sent a backhoe to help get traffic back going.”

Multiple trees and power lines were knocked down, and there were people without power in the city. Some of the traffic lights were also knocked out. 

“Georgia Power was doing their best to get power restored, but we had power poles that were broken off and transformers on the ground along with trees and power lines,” Cutler said. “It was a short storm, but it was powerful.” 

The storm also damaged the huge American flag that had been hanging in front of the Dublin City Hall.

“At first it was believed that it was ripped,” Cutler said. “When I got over there, it was determined that it was not ripped in half but had been torn loose from one side. They took it down (Monday) morning because it was not safe. We’ll see if we can make repairs to it, and possibly get it back up. But I’m not sure we will be able to.” 

Thankfully, no one was hurt during the storm.

“Wind was the major cause of damage,” Cutler said. “The East Dublin Fire Department reported hail, and there were also reports of hail around the Laurens County Courthouse. It was one of those storms that popped up really powerful and really quickly.”

He was happy no one was traveling in or out of the city of Dublin when the roof blew off of Cullens Supply.

“That was a blessing from this,” Cutler said. “There happened to be no vehicles on the road when the roof came off. Otherwise, we would have been trying to extricate somebody out of car or from underneath a roof because it stayed intact.”