See related story: Tornado anniversary: Couple rebuilds after home destroyed

Homes in a Black Creek subdivision in need of repairs provided a not-so-distant backdrop Wednesday to Bryan County officials who discussed recovery efforts one year after an EF4 tornado tore through North Bryan, killing one person while destroying homes, businesses and government facilities. 

Bryan County Commission Chairman Carter Infinger, D-1 Commissioner Noah Covington and Recreation Director Dave Smith took turns at Hendrix Park giving reporters updates on the county’s storm recovery efforts, which resulted in what Infinger said is roughly a $17 million insurance claim, the largest in the history of the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia.

Some of the news was expected. Supply chain issues and negotiations over insurance have delayed some repairs, such as on the Bryan County Court House, which officials say should be complete ly finished by the end of 2024. The county’s administration building in North Bryan should be finished by the end of 2023. The county jail should be completed by June. Inmates are currently being housed in Liberty County.

At Hendrix Park, which is already holding baseball and other games on refurbished fields, the county expects a replacement for the 12-year-old gym destroyed by the tornado will be finished by 2025.

Infinger and Covington praised county staffers, emergency personnel and community volunteers for their work in the aftermath of the tornado which also injured at least a dozen people.

The EF4 tornado traveled more than 12 miles through North Bryan on a path from Pembroke to Blitchton, with wind speeds up to 185 mph and carved a path 1,300 yards wide.

One of the businesses hit hardest by the storm was Flanders Powell Funeral Home and Crematorium, which sits next door to the Bryan County Court House.

Owner Tommy Flanders said roughly 60 percent of the funeral home was damaged, with the tornado peeling back sheet metal roofing and damaging his HVAC system much of the inside of the funeral home. He estimated repairs have cost approximately $500,000.

But it could’ve been worse. Flanders said he was at the funeral home when his wife called to say she’d gathered the kids and gotten into the closet.

He went outside, saw the tornado approaching and drove home shortly before it hit the funeral home and Court House.

The day after the tornado he and others went out to strip downed power cables for the wire to help hold the roof in place.

Despite the extensive damage, two funerals were held at the funeral home the week after the storm, and six the following week.

The only people to complain about it being warm in the funeral home’s chapel due to the lack of air conditioning, he said, were two people from out of town.

Flanders said he’d already had an idea of how bad a storm can be because he worked in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 in New Orleans.

“I’ve seen what a storm can do,” he said. “But it’s different when it happens to your community.”

It’s a community Flanders has a high opinion of.

“This is a really remarkable community,” he said. “The people in the community really stepped up and helped us make it through a difficult time. They are probably the most giving people I’ve ever known.”

He had a list of people to thank, from the Fort Stewart soldiers who showed up to help remove debris from his parking lot to Doug Kangeter, the Statesboro United Methodist youth, Tanner Page of UPS; April Meeks from Bryan County Middle School; Blake at Indoor Climate Experts: Macy Grier of Belle Events; Lisa Holcombe; Bryan County Fire and Emergency Services Battalion Chief Victoria Pape; all the local churches, “the churches were unbelievable,” Flanders said, Wilson Pickett; Nick Wilkus Tommy Lynn Construction and his employees, Audie Powell, Ernie Zeigler, Doug De-Loach, James Thigpen and Greg Parks.

“Our employees put up with a lot, they were here cleaning up the day after the tornado,” Flanders said. “They went above and beyond the call of duty,” he said. “So many people did.”

The tornado had an impact on some people who note they’re more weather wary now.

County Administrator Ben Taylor says the county recently sent workers home early after one severe weather watch, and Bryan County Family Connection Executive Director Wendy Futch said she now takes weather alerts much more seriously.

So does Flanders. Now, “bad weather makes me nervous,” he said. “I pay much more attention to weather alerts and cloud formations.”

Covington said he pays more attention now than he used to.

“I think everybody up here does,” he said.

In the meantime there’s still work to be done – at a number of levels.

For Flanders, a lasting impression is “how quickly it was destroyed and how long it’s taken to build it back, and how many people came to help.”

Futch said BCFC helped 76 families impacted by the tornado in some way, and received and spent $113,463 in donations.

“We assisted with a variety of needs, including hotel and rental assistance, gas and grocery gift cards, housing and roof repairs, insurance deductibles, debris removal, vet bills, and other needs,” she said.

Editor’s note: Tornado recovery is an ongoing story, prompted this week by the one-year anniversary.