HARRODSBURG, Ky. (LEX 18) — Some of the hardest hit homes in Thursday's storm could be found on Cornishville Road in Harrodsburg. For Jacob Long, the house he left in the morning wasn’t the house he came home to just hours later.
"The first few pictures I got were rough, ya know, you see things caved in and you couldn't really see the back of the house or much of the front of the house, so you weren't sure," said Long.
A bird's eye view of the area clearly showed just how much damage an EF1 tornado left when it rippled through west Harrodsburg at 100 mph.
"It kind of caved in my garage, got the foundation there a little bit, tore up some of the roof on the back of the house," explained Long.
His garage, filled with woodwork and the tools to go with it, took the brunt of the storm.
This Harrodsburg home took the brunt of an EF1 tornado that blew through Mercer County today.
— Megan Mannering (@MeganCMannering) January 12, 2023
Homeowner Jacob Long still smiled through the interview. He says his kids are safe, and that’s all that matters.
Story tonight on @LEX18News. pic.twitter.com/pWC1TuDZ1R
"I've got a couch that I've been working on refurbishing. It was my great-grandmother's," said Long. "I hope it's not ruined, but his whole section of the garage is lying on it, so I don't know. I don't know how salvageable that will be."
Long said it’s an 80-year-old barn across the field that’s offering some perspective today.
"Honestly, I was just relieved once I saw what the damage was,” said Long. “You see the barn over there tore down…very easily could've been the house."
Long says he’s lucky to have a house to go home to, and above all, a family to share it with.
"When I first got the call, I knew my kids were at daycare, I was worried about that. Once I found out they were safe, Heather was safe, then got the news that nobody's been injured…ya know everything here can be replaced."
