Editing Americus, Georgia (section)

=== 2007 tornado ===
Americus was hit by an EF3 tornado around 9:15 pm on [[Tornado outbreak of February 28 – March 2, 2007|March 1, 2007]]. The tornado was up to {{convert|1|mi|km|abbr=on|adj=mid|-wide}}, and carved a {{convert|38|mi|km|abbr=on}} path of destruction through the city and surrounding residential areas.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.srh.noaa.gov/ffc/html/pns3107.txt |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090211103502/http://www.srh.noaa.gov/ffc/html/pns3107.txt |archive-date=2009-02-11 |title=PRELIMINARY DAMAGE REPORT FOR 1 MARCH 2007 TORNADO OUTBREAK}}</ref>  It destroyed parts of [[Sumter Regional Hospital]], forcing the evacuations of all of the patients there. There were two fatalities at a Hudson Street residence near the hospital; all SRH patients were evacuated safely. The hospital, however, faced major reconstruction issues and was eventually torn down. A new hospital, Phoebe Sumter, opened at a new location on the corner of US 19 and Highway 280 in December 2011.

Georgia [[Governor of Georgia|Governor]] [[Sonny Perdue]] said, "It was worse {{sic|that}} I had feared. The hospital was hit, but the devastation within the area of Sumter County and Americus was more than I imagined. The businesses around the hospital are totally destroyed. Power is still not restored in many places. It's just a blessing frankly that we didn't have more fatalities than we did."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.walb.com/Global/story.asp?S=6168189|title=Sumter hospital shows tornado's worst punch|access-date=2018-12-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180712025333/http://www.walb.com/Global/story.asp?S=6168189|archive-date=2018-07-12|url-status=dead}}</ref> Over 500 homes were affected, with around 100 completely destroyed.  Several businesses throughout the town were seriously damaged or destroyed as well.

President George W. Bush visited the area on March 3, calling what he saw "tough devastation."