Georgia · Twiggs County · Storm Damage

Highway 96 Storm Damage in Twiggs County, GA: Downed Trees Blocked School Buses Near Watson Drive in Jeffersonville

A severe thunderstorm dropped trees across streets in and around Jeffersonville on Friday afternoon, penning in three school buses and putting one tree onto a Main Street house, WGXA reported. Nobody was hurt, the Twiggs County Sheriff’s Office said, and Highway 96 was passable again by about 4:23 p.m.

What happened on Highway 96 in Twiggs County?

A severe thunderstorm crossed middle Georgia on the afternoon of Friday, Aug. 21, 2026, dropping trees across streets in Twiggs County and holding up school buses in Jeffersonville, WGXA reported.

The Twiggs County Sheriff’s Office described the damage in a post to social media around 3:30 p.m. and asked residents to use “extreme caution.” Multiple trees had come down along Highway 96 between Highway 80 and Watson Drive inside the city, and on Martin Luther King Jr Blvd and Bullard Street.

The damage was spread across town rather than piled up at one intersection — a state highway, two city streets and one house, all in the space of a single storm.

Another tree landed on a house on Main Street. Nobody was injured anywhere in the city as trees came down, the sheriff’s office said, and emergency responders and road crews were out working to open the streets back up.

Which Twiggs County roads were reported blocked?

Trees came down on three streets inside Jeffersonville, the county seat, and on Highway 96, which runs through it.

Highway 96 is the state route that carries traffic through town, and it is where the school buses were caught.

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What happened to the school buses near Watson Drive?

Near the point where Watson Drive meets Highway 96, falling trees trapped three school buses, the sheriff’s office said.

They were caught at the Watson Drive end of the stretch the sheriff’s office had just described as blocked. Crews worked to cut the trees out of the roads, according to the same post.

Is Highway 96 in Twiggs County passable?

At roughly 4:23 p.m., the sheriff’s office said Highway 96 was passable again, WGXA reported.

That put the through route back in use about 53 minutes after the same office described multiple trees down across it.

What damage did the storm do around Jeffersonville and Dry Branch?

The storm’s first confirmed damage in Twiggs County came at 2:45 p.m., about three miles east-northeast of Dry Branch, where trees and power lines came down near where Possum Hollow Road meets Brown Road. A utility company reported it, the National Weather Service said.

Twenty-five minutes later, at 3:10 p.m., several large trees came down and were uprooted along Matthews Street, about a mile northwest of Jeffersonville — roughly 20 minutes before the sheriff’s office posted about the roads in town. Viewer photos shared with WGXA showed fallen trees and debris along the street, and broadcast media sent pictures of the damage to the National Weather Service.

Neither spot is on the city streets the sheriff’s office listed, so the storm did confirmed damage outside Jeffersonville as well as inside it.

The two spots sit at opposite ends of the county, and both landed inside stretches the National Weather Service had already flagged.

Was Twiggs County under a Severe Thunderstorm Warning?

Yes. The storm crossed the county under a rolling series of four Severe Thunderstorm Warnings on Friday afternoon, the National Weather Service said — two that ran to 3 p.m., issued at 2:20 p.m. and 2:37 p.m. over Baldwin, Jones, Twiggs and Wilkinson counties, and two that ran to 3:45 p.m., issued at 2:59 p.m. and 3:19 p.m. over Twiggs and Wilkinson.

Both damage points fall inside those stretches: Dry Branch at 2:45 p.m., and Matthews Street at 3:10 p.m.

A storm can cross a county under a Severe Thunderstorm Warning and never put anything on the ground. This one put trees down at both ends of Twiggs County within 25 minutes.

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Who do you contact about the Twiggs County storm damage?

The Twiggs County Sheriff’s Office, led by Sheriff Darren Mitchum, put out both road updates. It lists (478) 945-3357 on its website and keeps an Open Records section there for requesting an incident record.

Other Twiggs County reports are collected on our Twiggs County page.

We have covered comparable Georgia storm damage this month, including a tree that fell on cars on Abner Place in Atlanta on Aug. 18 and a fallen tree on Highway 382 that blocked fire crews in Gilmer County.

What don’t we know yet about the Twiggs County storm damage?

What else are people asking about the Twiggs County storm?

Which Twiggs County roads had trees down?
Trees came down on Highway 96 between Highway 80 and Watson Drive inside Jeffersonville, on Martin Luther King Jr Blvd and on Bullard Street, the Twiggs County Sheriff’s Office said in a post to social media around 3:30 p.m. Another tree landed on a house on Main Street.

Is Highway 96 in Twiggs County passable?
Around 4:23 p.m. Friday, in a second post, the sheriff’s office said Highway 96 was passable again, WGXA reported. That covered the highway itself; the three city streets were named in the earlier 3:30 p.m. post.

Were school buses caught in the Twiggs County storm damage?
Three school buses were penned in by trees that came down near Watson Drive and Highway 96, the sheriff’s office said. Whether anyone was aboard them, and how long they were held in place, has not been released.

Was anyone hurt in the Twiggs County storm?
Nobody was injured as trees came down across the city, the sheriff’s office said.

What damage did the storm do near Jeffersonville and Dry Branch?
Several large trees came down and were uprooted along Matthews Street, about a mile northwest of Jeffersonville, at 3:10 p.m., and trees and power lines came down near Possum Hollow Road and Brown Road, about three miles east-northeast of Dry Branch, at 2:45 p.m., the National Weather Service said.

Was Twiggs County under a Severe Thunderstorm Warning?
Yes. Four Severe Thunderstorm Warnings covered Twiggs County on Friday afternoon, the National Weather Service said: two issued at 2:20 p.m. and 2:37 p.m. that ran to 3 p.m., and two issued at 2:59 p.m. and 3:19 p.m. that ran to 3:45 p.m. Both confirmed damage times fall inside them.