PRINCETON, Ky. (LEX 18) — A year ago, people in Western Kentucky experienced a night they will never forget. It was a tornado outbreak that left 80 people dead, with damage across multiple Kentucky counties.
As we look back on that tragic night, I went to Caldwell County to speak with National Weather Service officials and those in emergency management, who credit early warnings with saving many lives that night.
Forecasters at the National Weather Service in Paducah had been sounding the alarm for days and tracking the potential for a significant storm on December 10.
Christine Wielgos, the warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Paducah, said that warm temperatures leading up to Friday were concerning.
"When you have 70, almost 80 degrees leading up to an event, and dew points well into the 60s, as a meteorologist, you just know something bad is going to happen," said Wielgos.
Wielgos said that night was the first time the NWS office in Paducah issued a tornado emergency.
“We issued our first tornado emergency and every one after that were tornado emergencies," said Wielgos.
Caldwell County Emergency Manager Joey McCaslin had been in contact with NWS officials and once he knew the tornado was heading towards Caldwell County, he took quick action.
“I went in the dispatch center and told the dispatchers, when they get the word to take cover, start blowing the weather sirens and they'd blow for two minutes and I said just keep pushing the button kicks out, reset it and they just kept blowing the sirens," said McCaslin.
Maps lining the walls of that building show the path of what was later determined to be a mile-wide tornado took through Caldwell County – 18 miles.
That tornado was later found to have been on the ground for nearly 166 miles. It’s one of the longest paths for a tornado in U.S. history.
Four people died that night in Caldwell County and many others lost their homes and businesses.
“That night, there were several places we could not even get to because when it came into Caldwell County, it stayed on the ground all the way through Caldwell County and we were having to come in from different directions and other agencies were having to come in from different directions," said McCaslin.
Wielgos’ job in the field was just beginning, working with a team of experts to determine the strength of the tornado. It was later determined to be an EF-4.
"A lot of the homes just weren't built to withstand 160-mile-an-hour winds," said Wielgos.
Wielgos and other emergency officials caution it will be at least three to five years before real recovery will truly be felt. They argue empty concrete slabs and debris still scattered in the Country Club area of Princeton should serve as a reminder to take weather warnings seriously.
“When there's a day that we are screaming that you have to pay attention to the weather, I hope that people take that seriously and know where their family members are, including having a safe place and have multiple places to receive warnings,” said Wielgos.
