Hurricane Katrina

After striking Florida, Hurricane Katrina made a long arc into the Gulf of Mexico before coming ashore as a Category 4 hurricane. Striking east of New Orleans, LA., the hurricane spun off tornadoes in Georgia, resulting in the only major destruction of the storm from the state

In Carroll and Heard County an F2 tornado destroyed 3 homes and several large poultry barns, killing one person and 140,000 chicks. People were injured by separate F2 tornadoes in Spaulding County and Peach County, and there was some commercial infrastructure damaged by an F2 tornado in White County (city of Helen, Georgia).

In the wake of the storm, Georgians faced a gas shortage caused by the temporary closing of the two pipelines into the state. Long lines at the pump and higher prices forced Gov. Sonny Perdue to declare an "energy emergency," asking Georgians to curtail travel during the upcoming Labor Day weekend. A assistant pointed out that Georgia receives much of its gas through the port of Savannah, and some is trucked in.