Life in Christian County, Kentucky...
Note: If you're seeking information about the February 5, 2008, tornado, please see "Tornado Damage at Crofton, KY, Tonight."
The morning after the tornado, emergency crews are still deployed to the area that was struck. Reports on the radio list many roads just to the north of Hopkinsville that are closed to traffic due to debris, fallen trees, downed power lines, and so on. Storm damaged areas include Old Madisonville Road, Harmony Grove Road, Billy Goat Hill Road, Witty Lane, 41-North, Prosperity Lane, Deason Road, Greenville Road, Antioch Road, and Ebenezer Road
The Sinking Fork Baptist Church apparently has been destroyed, and extensive damage done to the parsonage. Around 100 homes have been damaged. Damage estimates are not complete. Last night, a county official stated that he expected damage to exceed $2 million. I have not heard an update on that figure.
Crews are working to clear the roads. Other volunteers are still checking house to house in remote areas to make sure no one is trapped. The worst damage in Christian County seems to have started around Princeton Road and gone as far as Ebenezer Road where it is reported that many trees are down. That's just a couple of miles north of our home.
Electrical power has been restored to Hopkinsville, but only one of the TVA transmission lines to the city is currently functional. The others (two? three?) have suffered damage and are under repair.
No question about it -- that loud rumble or low roar that we heard in the sky last night was a tornado, or as the radio announcer says, parsing his words, "tornadic activity". The National Weather Service has sent investigators to the area to determine whether it was indeed a full-fledged tornado, and if so, what its rank was.
Here is the account I wrote last night.
Here and here are images of the tornado damage in the Sinking Fork area that were posted by the administrator of the Hoptown Hall Forum.
WKDZ Radio has posted about 50 photos of the tornado damage on their website.
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UPDATE
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The final damage assessment has been released by the National Weather Service.
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