The city has mostly rebuilt but some residents have yet to move back into their homes.

NEWNAN, Ga. — The landscape looks a lot different in Newnan two years on from one of Georgia's strongest tornadoes. There are fewer downed trees and tarps. Instead, there are new roofs, freshly mown lawns and, in some cases, brand-new homes. 

Two years ago, an EF-4 tornado ripped through Coweta and Heard Counties. The twister damaged 1,700 homes and cost millions in federal funding to clean up and rebuild. Newnan High School was badly damaged and efforts are now underway to rebuild what was lost. 

Rich DeWees, the long-term recovery director at the Coweta Community Foundation, said the organization raised money to repair and rebuild more than 200 homes and bridge insurance gaps.

“The atmosphere was one of fear and really depression because of devastation," DeWees said. "Nobody really knew what the future looked like I think today, the shift has been... much more hopeful. It took a lot of people coming together to do more than the individual pieces could have ever done.”

Executive director Kristin Webb started at the Coweta Community Foundation a couple of days after the tornado first hit. She said the organization has helped nearly 300 families, many of whom grew up in Newnan, stay in their homes. 

“We’ve been able to provide mental health services, pay utility bills and insurance deductibles," Webb said. “It’s not just rebuilding the homes or removing the trees. It’s also looking at mental health in our schools and for the families who were impacted. If this were to happen again, we have a plan, know how to address and help our community as well.”

Newnan Mayor Keith Brady calls the day the tornado hit transformational. He said there were nearly 2,700 permits filed for repairs in the aftermath of the storm, and around 200 families are still waiting on repairs to get back inside their homes two years later.

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Newnan storm damage from severe weather

"Time heals. Time also fades," Brady said. "So we hope that our citizens understand that they always need to remember what happened. They also need to remember the response. Our citizens here have been courageous and resilient. They have stepped through the process of rebuilding, and in some cases having to demolish and start over completely.” 

Brady said the city had spent $9 million on recovery efforts. As part of that response, Plant Newnan is helping to replenish the thousands of downed trees. He said fewer than two dozen families were struggling to pay for repairs because they are uninsured. 

DeWees said courage and collaboration got Newnan through the storm, and it's those same traits, he said, that will keep Newnan strong.

"It’s still a long road. We’ll never replace what so many families lost, but we’ve been able to come alongside them," DeWees said. "Newnan has become everything Newnan is while those trees were growing, and I think there's an optimism about what Newnan becomes while these trees are growing."