Feb. 20--THOMASVILLE -- Cleanup was well under way Thursday afternoon in Thomasville following an early morning storm that spawned tornado touchdowns in the area, city officials said.

Thomasville City Manager Steve Sykes gave an update on the city's condition Thursday afternoon.

"With the damage path of this storm, we had so much property damage with very little injury," he said.

The major areas of damage in the city coverage area were Baytree Estates, Crestwood Drive, Cindy Drive, Metcalfe Road, Magnolia Road, Tall Pines, Brookwood School and the landfill.

Sykes did not have a monetary estimate of the damage within the city limits at press time, but said the city typically reports damages to the local emergency management agency, which reports to Georgia Emergency Management Agency.

Utilities are a main cleanup priority.

"Right now we are focused primarily in restoring power on Pinetree Boulevard for the Southwestern State Hospital campus. Our goal is to have that completed by dark. Then, we have Magnolia Road near Crestwood and Pinewood that we are trying to complete by the end of the day. We have a utilities distribution line down that runs along Magnolia. Then, we have Metcalfe Road, which goes out to A Place in the Woods and other subdivisions, and that line is being repaired. We hope to have it back this evening."

Then, crews will focus on the Tall Pines subdivision in the Cardinal Ridge area and Brookwood School, he said. Baytree Estates is not expected to be up again until some time over the weekend.

"We currently have about 600 customers without power," Sykes said. "That number will go down during the evening as we get those services back on. Some customers will still be out of power as repairs are made."

Trees in roads had been cleared to make them passable, but traffic is being restricted in and out of Baytree Estates because of the significant damage to that neighborhood, he said.

"We are assisting residents in Baytree retrieve personal items, but once they get out we are not allowing them back in the house if it is uninhabitable. If their home is inhabitable and they want to stay there without power during the weekend, that is their choice. The important thing right now is safety and security."

It was estimated that about 56 tons of debris had been collected as of mid-afternoon.

Most of the damage was to homes or structures, with some equipment damaged in a storage facility at the landfill and extensive damage to parts of Brookwood School.

The school was closed Thursday and will be closed today. Plans are to reopen on Monday.