RICHMOND, Ky. (LEX 18) — The National Weather Service spent the day in Madison County on Friday where they’d assess the damage from Thursday’s storms, which caused a good amount of damage to several homes on Braemar Drive and Tazwell Drive. And after evaluating everything and speaking with a few residents, the determination was made that this storm was an EF-1 tornado.
“Looking at the radar signature that we saw and the exact location we are right now, this looks like really concentrated damage and that’s what you tend to see with these types of storms,” said Ryan Sharp with NWS.
Trees were downed, a camper was flipped on its side and a few homes have significant roof damage. That includes the roof of Jason Gentry’s home.
“We literally moved here right before Christmas, right before the polar plunge, and now, welcome to the neighborhood, tornado!” Gentry joked.
He’s able to joke because no one in his home, or in this area was hurt in Thursday’s tornado.
Sharp noted that when evaluating this type of situation, no stone is left unturned when trying to make an accurate assessment.
“There’s certain types of trees that can’t handle the wind at all. And if it’s rotten you have to look at the trunk structure to see how bad the tree damage is. And then you want to see the other damage like the roof over there,” Sharp explained.
Sharp also said that winter tornadic activity isn’t all that uncommon here, even though most associate tornadoes with the warm, summer weather.
Mr. Gentry said he’s confident his insurance will cover the damage, and already he’s had a contractor come to take a look.
His new home will soon be getting a new roof.
