The Atlanta Constitution from Atlanta, Georgia • A3

Filename: A3-MAIN-AJCD0304-4FOUR created: Mar 3 2007 Username: SPEED7 AJCD0304-4DOT Sunday, Mar 04, 2007 MAIN 3 A 4DOT 3 A Cyan Magenta Yellow Black 3 A Cyan Magenta Yellow Black 4DOT Filename: A3-MAIN-AJCD0304-4FOUR created: Mar 3 2007 Username: SPEED7 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ajc.com 4 Sunday, March 4, 2007 A3 Bush tours storm-ravaged Americus By JIM THARPE Americus Two U.S. presidents came to this tornado-ravaged South Georgia town Saturday one to get a $12 haircut, one bearing the possibility of millions of dollars in federal aid. President Bush, who carried Sumter County in the last election, spent about two hours on the eastern side of the city, which was devastated Thursday night by a huge twister that tore a 1-mile-by-6-mile scar across historic homes, retail businesses and most of the medical facilities. times in Americus, Georgia, sir. Thanks for standing Bush told Sheriff Pete Smith and other local of who briefed him on the damage.

minute you out you have what you need, if you put out a call to the country, this country will Bush said. Earlier, as part of his morning tour of storm damage in Georgia and Alabama, the president comforted students in Enterprise, where eight classmates were killed when a tornado smashed their high school. of the devastation can come hope and a better Bush said, standing with his arm around a student who was crying. thoughts, of course, go out to the students who perished. We thank God for the hundreds who Bush promised both states assistance.

Georgia counties in the affected areas probably will be declared federal disaster areas, a formal designation that releases millions of dollars in federal aid for recovery. Coffee County, received the des ignation Saturday. The tornados killed nine people in Georgia, 10 in Alabama and a 7-year-old girl in Missouri. Two people died in Americus, a city of 18,000 about 130 miles south of Atlanta. Six died in nearby Baker County and one in Taylor County.

The trip was intended to highlight his stepped-up efforts, in particular through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, to help disaster victims. The White House came under withering criticism for its sluggish response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. A few hours before Bush arrived, former President Jimmy Carter, who lives 10 miles down the road near Plains, arrived without fanfare at the just- reopened Barbershop on Lamar Street. Carter had just returned from a trip to Argentina and had not toured the damage. tornado went over our Carter said.

were a few trees down in our area, but overall we were The former Democratic president said he had no plans to meet with Bush during the Republican visit, but would my with a telephone hookup through the two security details. Carter has been intensely critical of some of policies, including the war in Iraq. Carter left James one-chair shop with a $12 trim and a bag of sweet potatoes, tomatoes and sweet onions that Herndon sells, along with everything from kindling wood to machetes. Two of cats scurried about the shop as the proprietor noted that he has a total of 10. got $20 out of him this said Herndon, 72, who counts the 82-year-old former president as a regular customer, as Carter headed back to Plains.

arrival was a study in contrast. Helicopters roared overhead as dozens of police cars with lights blocked major intersections for the motorcade. The president traveled with Georgia U.S. Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson, Congressman Sanford Bishop and Gov.

Sonny Perdue. glad here, but not sure how much he can do for said Jeryl Pinnell, who had reopened his Clinic Drug Store on Forsyth Street just across from where the president toured the dev astation. will take many months, maybe a year, to get everything back like it The sound of chain saws the air Saturday, and the area began to take on the look of a military camp. More than 100 National Guardsmen patrolled the city, and local, state and federal agencies set up a command center in the middle of the destruction. Hundreds of power company workers from across the South worked to restore major utility lines the tornado sheared off some power poles and blew down dozens more along the major streets.

store was running on generator power, parts of the roof were missing and the word was crudely painted on a piece of plywood where a plate glass window had been. His store is down the road from the Sumter Regional Hospital, which was heavily damaged in the storm and was forced to transfer its patients to area hospitals. Parts of the severely damaged building might have to be torn down. State Sen. George Hooks (D-Americus), whose agency insures the hospital, said structural damages and lost wages at the hospital could bring losses to $100 million, just at that one facility.

Dozens of other and medical support facilities near the hos pital were also heavily damaged or destroyed. basically without major medical care in this area right Hooks said. The hospital, he said, employs about 600 people and serves eight rural counties. Damages across the city were expected to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Among the houses severely damaged was that of former state House Majority Leader Jimmy Skipper (D-Americus).

Skipper lost the top of his home and has moved to a weekend cabin the family owns. got out everything we could and put it in he said. Mayor Barry Blount extended a dawn-to-dusk curfew for the city, though police reported few crimes associated with the aftermath. Bush viewed the damage in Georgia and Alabama from his helicopter. During his earlier stop in Enterprise, he took a private tour of the school hallway where the students died and scores of others were trapped when the ceiling and walls collapsed.

biggest effect of the storm is the shattered Bush said. can rebuild Staff writer Bob Kemper and The Associated Press contributed to this article. Photos by CHARLES DHARAPAK Associated Press President Bush gets a account of the devastation from a resident of Americus on Saturday, accompanied by Gov. Sonny Perdue (left). The tornadoes killed nine in Georgia.

President Bush greets residents of Americus during his helicopter tour of Georgia and Alabama. Georgia city begins to rebuild after killer tornadoes that caused millions in damage and wiped out hospital. NEWS IE. )aU IE. 4PWU -(SE IE.

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