South Cobbers Pick Up the Pieces After Thursday's Storm

The weather is beautiful and sunny here in South Cobb, showing hardly any signs of the severe thunderstorms of Thursday night that have many residents still reeling, including the families who lost loved ones.

The family of Alonzo Terry Daniel, a 19-year-old who died in Thursday’s storm after being crushed by a tree in the front yard of his Mableton home, stood on the side of the road in front of their home as workers cleared the fallen trees.

Their eyes showed signs of hours of crying and their voices shook as they remembered their son, brother and cousin.

Alonzo had decided not to go to football practice for the semi-pro league, the Atlanta Villains, Thursday afternoon, his cousin said.

Instead, he began clearing debris from the storm from his front yard on Stroud Street in Mableton around 5 p.m., when a tree fell over and pinned his legs.

His mother, Diane, was the only other person at home at the time. She knew that his legs were broken, but she had hope because he was still breathing.

Diane called 911, and it felt like it took forever for the ambulance to arrive, she later told her cousin, Connie Williams.

“She said he was screaming and hollering,” Williams recalled. Diane and her son had just left Williams’ home in Atlanta 45 minutes before the incident.

“I had just seen him,” Williams said. “I mean, my goodness, I was in shock.”

The ambulance took Alonzo to Wellstar Cobb Hospital, where he later died.

On June 10, Alonzo would have turned 20. He was the youngest of four, with three older sisters.

When he wasn’t playing football, he worked at Grady Hospital in the janitorial services division or was helping out where he could like he did on Thursday afternoon.

His family described him as “very intelligent” and “very mannerable.”

His father, also named Alonzo, said, “You’d tell him to do something, and he would just go out and help. No back talk.”

The family did not have insurance, and are in need of funds to pay for Alonzo’s burial.

For those wishing to help, please make any checks to Diane Daniel at any Chase Bank location.

Two Decatur women, 61-year-old Marion Irwin and 64-year-old Geraldine Grady died yesterday in the Vinings area after a tree fell on their vehicle at 3835 Paces Ferry Road, just across the Chattahoochee River and not far from The Lovett School, Atlanta Police said.

Many others in the area did not lose loved ones, but suffered considerable damage to their homes because of downed trees.

Larry Woody was up on his roof this morning, pulling tarp and helping direct the workers who were removing the large oak from his home on Pebblebrook Road in Mableton.

The tree fell through the roof of two rooms, which used to be where his daughters slept, Mr. Woody said.

“He thinks he’s Superman,” said his wife, Linda, who stood by in the driveway, holding her chest over her heart and watching her husband on the roof.

The Woody family has lived in their home since 1972, when Linda and Larry married. It’s the only home their daughters have ever known.

“The wind blew all the trees and the ground shook. Then we heard it hit the house…” Linda said, taking long pauses to take in the girth of the tree and the damage it caused. “They’ll never be able to match the brick. It won’t ever be the same.”

Despite the challenges that are sure to come with having the home repaired, especially since both Linda and Larry are currently unemployed, Linda was optimistic.

“It’s a house. That’s all it is. It can be rebuilt and replaced,” she said.