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Perdue declares day of recovery

• Gov. Sonny Perdue visits Americus to mark the anniversary of the deadly tornado of 2007.

Susan McCord

AMERICUS – Georgia will never forget the events of March 1, 2007, Gov. Sonny Perdue said Friday inside the Storm Dome at Georgia Southwestern State University.

"Our spirits determine ... what is within determines how you deal with your tragedy," Perdue said.

An EF3 tornado that struck Americus around 9 p.m. on March 1, 2007, left two in the city dead and demolished many buildings, including Sumter Regional Hospital.

Perdue recalled driving around as a young man with his grandfather, after a tornado struck Warner Robins and "seeing the devastation and death in its wake."

He presented Americus Mayor Barry Blount with a proclamation declaring March 1, 2008, a day of "remembrance, recognition and recovery" for Americus.

Introduced by Sen. George Hooks, D-Americus, Perdue spoke at an event hosted by the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving at Georgia Southwestern's Storm Dome, home to the university's Hurricanes basketball teams, on the eve of the March 1, 2008, one-year anniversary of the tornado.

Rep. Mike Cheokas, D-Americus, said he'd "never been so proud to be a Georgian" as when Perdue arrived in Americus immediately after the tornado "to marshal all of the resources that the great state of Georgia had" in aid after the storm.

"Thank you for all that you've done, and continue to do for the state of Georgia," Cheokas said.

The event honored the storm's two victims, Jerry Dukes and Carrie Gaines, who huddled in a small house on Hudson Street, less than a quarter mile from sumter Regional, when the storm took their lives.

Dukes' wife, Cathy Dukes, said the year had been difficult.

"I pray that this community can start the healing process, and I pray that for myself, too," she said. "This has been a hard year, but I'm taking it one step at a time, just like a I know that everybody else in this community is."

Her husband often told her "Cat, keep your head up."

Gaines had come over from her home next door for safety when the storm hit. A family member said Gaines loved people, and "especially loved her family."

Dozens of Georgia State Troopers and Americus and Sumter County law enforcement attended the ceremony.

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