Created: 2/29/2008 8:14:03 PM 
AMERICUS, GA (AP) -- Gov. Sonny Perdue praised the rebuilding effort in Americus on Friday, a year after a devastating tornado cut a swath through the town, killing two residents, destroying the south Georgia community's hospital and leaving more than 1,000 homes damaged or destroyed.
"I'm glad to see the strength and courage of this community," Perdue said during an afternoon ceremony at Georgia Southwestern University. "Tomorrow a year ago this community was in shock. Tonight we are able to commemorate the recovery."
He presented community leaders with a proclamation marking Saturday as a "day of renewal."
Last March 1, a series of tornadoes swept in from the west, causing widespread destruction in Georgia.
The tornadoes killed nine people in Sumter, Taylor and Baker counties, and caused more than $210 million in damage, demolishing dozens of Georgia homes and businesses.
The tornado cut a 1- to 3-mile swath through Americus, toppling centuries-old oaks and mangling some of the town's historic homes. Doctors' offices were also among the casualties.
Without medical offices or a hospital, patients had to be sent to hospitals in the surrounding towns of Cordele, Montezuma and Albany. But within five days Sumter Regional Hospital had opened a makeshift emergency room in tents and now operates an urgent care center in modular buildings.
A 76-bed hospital is expected to open by April 1, offering the full gamut of hospital services, from surgical to inpatient and officials expect to break ground in October on a permanent replacement hospital, said Nyla Franklin, director of Sumter Regional's Hospital Foundation.
Recalling his own childhood memory of a tornado, Perdue said, "We all have to endure tragedy.... We can't erase those memories, but we can remember the rising up and the rebuilding.
"I think literally before our eyes we're seeing the rebirth of Americus," he said.
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