1.75-mile path left by tornado

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April 7, 2011

Anonymous The Times-Tribune The Times-Tribune Thu Apr 07, 2011, 09:52 AM EDT

— By Carl Keith Greene / Staff Writer

The EF1 tornado that set down Monday at about 5:03 p.m. between Corbin and Williamsburg left a path of about a mile-and-three-quarters, leaving a swath about a half-mile wide with maximum winds of 90 to 95 mph, reported the Jackson Weather Service office late Tuesday evening.

The office’s description of the event indicates the tornado hit the ground along Bray’s Chapel Road and stayed on the ground until just west of the Whitley County Airport.

The tornado crossed U.S. 25W and KY 204, caused significant damage to several barns and out-buildings and uprooted many trees.

It lifted from near Airport Road moving east over I-75.

In that space, additional straight line wind caused more damage.

There were no fatalities or injuries.

Between 4:34 p.m. Monday and 5:45 p.m., tornado warnings were issued in the Tri-County area.

According to Shawn Harley, of the Weather Service office, the first warning was for central Laurel County and was issued at 4:34 p.m. through 5 p.m. and renewed at 4:58 through 5:45 p.m. for north central Knox County and Laurel County.

From 4:41 to 5:15 p.m., a warning was issued for southwestern Knox and Whitley counties.

Dispatch centers in the area are warned by the weather service by both telephone and teletype that the areas they serve are likely to have a tornado.

Corbin Fire Chief Barry McDonald said no tornado warning on the sirens spaced around the city were sounded because the need to activate the warning sirens was not issued via teletype to the city’s dispatch center.

He explained that the sirens spread around the city are used only for tornado warnings, and in another voice, evacuation in a case such as the incident at the ice plant on Cumberland Falls Road a couple of years ago.

Buddy Rogers of the Kentucky Division of Emergency Management explained that choices of emergency warning equipment and its use are made by the cities and counties in which the equipment is used.

The sirens are not intended to warn people inside structures, he said. “Their intent is outdoor warnings, not indoor. They are telling you there’s something going on and you should go inside immediately and then find out what’s happening.”

“People need to have an indoor weather alert tone radio,” he added, noting that the new radios are all-hazard radios that warn of weather conditions as well as amber alerts and other hazards.

“Those radios save lives. We know it and keep preaching it, but people don’t want to pay $30 for one,” he said.

The radios are available in many grocery stores, electronic stores and big box stores.

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1.75-mile path left by tornado

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