Tornado Strikes Georgia Nuclear Submarine Base, Injures 4

A tornado hit the Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay (NSBKB), Kingsland, Georgia, on Sunday, leaving four people injured.

Chris Tucker, a public information officer at the base, told First Coast News that the victims were not severely injured and had been transported to nearby medical facilities after a tornado passed through the naval base at 4 p.m. local time (7 p.m. EST). The mother of one of the victims told Action News Jax that her son was out fishing at the time when the tornado hit, and had to be taken to the hospital.

NSBKB emergency responders were dispatched to the naval base to assess the level of damage. Scott Bassett, another public information officer at the base, told Weather that a pier facility in the southeast part of the base sustained wind damage. Smaller vessels of the Coast Guard were docked at the pier. However, none of the submarines were damaged by the tornado.

The Kings Bay naval base is home to ballistic missile submarines and guided missile submarines of the U.S. Navy Atlantic Fleet. The submarines assigned to the base are USS Maryland (SSBN 738), USS Rhode Island (SSBN 740), USS Tennessee (SSBN 734), USS West Virginia (SSBN 736), USS Wyoming (SSBN 742), USS Alaska (SSBN 732), USS Florida (SSGN 728) and USS Georgia (SSGN 729), Naval Technology reported.

It is unclear whether any of the nuclear-armed submarines were at port when the tornado struck.

Reports said schools in Lowndes, Brantley, Ware, Echols, Clinch, and Lanier counties in Georgia are cancelled Monday due to poor weather conditions and road flooding.

A tornado was confirmed by the National Weather Center, at 3:15 p.m. local time (6:15 p.m. EST), and warnings were issued for Camden County, Georgia, which included Kingsland, St. Marys and Cumberland Island. Also, a flood watch remained in effect in Southeast Georgia until Monday 1 p.m. local time (4 p.m. EST).

The storm system that created a tornado in Georgia had previously spawned a twister in Taylorville, Illinois, at 5 p.m. local time (6 p.m. EST) Saturday, which left more than 100 homes damaged and 25 people injured. The tornado occurred a week after the state was battered by Winter Storm Bruce which brought 6-12 inches of snow in cities like Chicago and Wheaton and other parts of north and northeast Illinois.

The system also gave rise to four other tornados that wreaked havoc in Oklahoma and killed a person in a motel in Aurora, Missouri.