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GRIFFIN - Here are some highlights from today's press conference in Spalding County.

The Griffin Spalding County School System is closed Thursday and Friday. More will be announced at a later time.

The preliminary assessment has been completed by GEMA. 2,300 homes in Spalding have been damaged and at least 100 destroyed.

Griffin Power has restored service to nearly 90% of its customers who lost power. As of this afternoon, there are about 1,458 remaining who need power. (See yesterday's update to make a comparison of the work being done.)

City also dealing with stormwater leaks which they are trying to repair ahead of tomorrow's expected rain

The Volunteer Drive Thru at the Senior Center at Memorial Drive is going to continue from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. until further notice. Call 678-453-4508 for more information.

Call 678-453-4508 to confirm hours for drop off of donations for tornado victims at 220 East Solomon Street in Griffin.

If you would like to give electronically to the tornado victims through the Griffin-Spalding Tornado Relief Fund 2023, click here to give through PayPal.

GRIFFIN - Here are some highlights from today's press conference in Spalding County. The National Weather Service let the county know last night that 5 tornadoes impacted the county. 2 were EF1 (73-112 mph winds), 2 were EF-2 (113-157 mph winds), and 1 was an EF-3 (158-206 mph winds). Thankfully, even with these high winds and damage to the county, there were no fatalities.

Spalding County E-911 Center received over 2,000 emergency calls in the first couple of hours after the storm hit on Thursday afternoon. There were reports that the system failed, but he said that the system worked as it was supposed to with overflow calls going to neighboring counties in order to take care of citizens in need.

Over 10,000 residences were initially without electricity. 2,700 remain as of 3:30 today with work ongoing to restore electricity as quickly and efficiently as possible. 150 line workers are on the job today.

The students will be out on Tuesday and Wednesday with a determination to be made about Thursday at a later time. At least 400 families of students and at least 40 teachers have been displaced by these tornadoes.

The Volunteer Drive Thru at the Senior Center at Memorial Drive is going to continue from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. until further notice. Call 678-453-4508 for more information.

Donations can be accepted and help can be received by tornado victims at 220 East Solomon Street in Griffin from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. until further notice. Call 678-453-4508 for more information.

The Red Cross has two shelters open at this time. One is at First United Methodist Church and the alternate shelter is at City Park Gymnasium for now.

There was a great amount of thanks given to all who have helped out in Spalding County during this time.

Anyone who would like to see the press conference that was held in Spalding County today at 4 p.m. can see it on the InSpalding Facebook page which is the official page of Spalding County government.