A path of destruction

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February 13, 2009

Residents certain tornado to blame

Anonymous The Times-Tribune Fri Feb 13, 2009, 08:51 AM EST

By Samantha Swindler / Managing Editor

The National Weather Service has yet to confirm that a tornado touched down Wednesday along Stinking Creek in Knox County, but those who live in the area are sure about what they saw.

Stinking Creek Volunteer Fire Department Chief Jesse Jaynes said he watched “a funnel, rain-wrapped and wide” that didn’t touch the ground, but had enough winds to leave a path of destruction in upper Stinking Creek.

There, a trailer was crushed and pieces of it littered the nearby creek. Neighbors said the man who lived there had moved out only weeks earlier. Next door, Sizemore’s Big Creek Car Wash had a cement block wall crushed and sustained roof damage. Other trailers and barns were blown from their moorings. And while a demolished trailer was blown in one direction, pieces of fencing were strewn in another.

“I don’t think that’s straight line winds, not at all, that’s just my opinion,” Jaynes said.

Further up the road, 14-year-old Tabitha Mills recounted being in her family’s trailer as the storm hit with only her 19-year-old sister.

“The front windows busted and I started crying. I was scared to death,” she said. “We went and hid in the closet.”

And a few miles away in the Walker community, a trailer owned by Oba Grubb was pushed onto its side.

“The wind blowed about all day yesterday, and there was thunder down the road, and right all at once it was all the storm you ever saw — it was ice, rain, snow all mixed together, you couldn’t see the road. The wind was terrible,” he said.

Six vehicles of National Guardsmen toured the county Thursday with volunteer firemen, taking note of names, phone numbers, addresses and global positioning readings of storm damage — everything from lost shingles to demolished trailers. On Wednesday, Knox County Emergency Management Director Larry Howard confirmed that at least 23 homes sustained damage and four were destroyed.

“What that will do, when FEMA comes in here, they’ll want to go back and look at these same residences and make the determination of how much damage it is and let the residents know how much money FEMA will give to help them repair their home or mobile home,” Howard said.

Knox and Whitley counties both declared states of emergency Wednesday, which could allow the counties to receive federal aid if damage assessments reach a certain threshold.

A high wind warning had been in effect most of the day Wednesday, but at about 3 p.m. a front of heavy rain, fog and wind that was moving across eastern Kentucky hit the Tri-County, reducing what had been visibility of about 10 miles to about a half-mile. The fast-moving storm left quickly, but the area was under a tornado warning and high wind warnings were in effect late into the night Wednesday. No injuries were reported.

Damage was widespread across Knox County, and a total of 20 Guardsmen traveled to South Hwy. 11, Artemus, Stinking Creek, Walker, Flat Lick and Swan Pond noting needed home repairs and downed trees. Several rural routes were still impassable Thursday afternoon due to the number of downed trees.

As of Thursday afternoon, 500 customers in Whitley and Knox counties were without electric, Howard said.

Upper Stinking Creek seemed to have the highest concentration of severe damage, but it wasn’t the worst the community has seen. In 2003, a tornado took a similar route through the area.

“This is the same path it took before, basically, but it did not touch down like it did last time... It will surprise me if it was not a tornado confirmed,” said Angela Jaynes with the Stinking Creek Volunteer Fire Department. “If it wasn’t for the community out with chain saws also, the roads would have been blocked a whole lot longer than they were. We want to thank the community and we want to thank the National Guard and EMS for responding also.”

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