National Weather Service confirms three tornadoes touched down in West Virginia Tuesday

The National Weather Service has confirmed at least three tornadoes touched down in West Virginia during Tuesday’s storms. 

One confirmed tornado went from St. Marys in Pleasants County into Doddridge County, said Simone Lewis, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Charleston, West Virginia.

Another tornado that originated in Washington County, Ohio is believed to have also dropped down in Pleasants County, West Virginia on Tuesday, but that has not been confirmed, Lewis said.

In the state’s Eastern Panhandle, a tornado touched down in Lehew, an unincorporated area in Hampshire County, according to meteorologist Luiz Rosa, with the National Weather Service in Sterling, Virginia. Another tornado touched down in Seneca Rocks, Pendleton County, Rosa said. 

The storms brought damaging winds and 5 to 6 inches of rain to parts of West Virginia on Tuesday, leading to flash flooding and landslides. 

Gov. Patrick Morrisey declared a state of emergency Tuesday evening for all 55 counties in the state because of the storms.

Upshur, Lewis and Pleasants counties in North Central West Virginia were among the hardest hit. About 500 members of the West Virginia National Guard have been deployed to assist with flood response. 

Straight-line winds estimated at between 70 and 80 miles per hour were confirmed in Lewis County, Lewis said. 

Two people have died as a result of the storms, a spokesman for the governor confirmed on Friday. He did not clarify if they were the two people from Upshur County who Morrisey said were still unaccounted for on Thursday. Officials had located a vehicle believed to be associated with the missing people, but had not been able to access it because of flood debris.

The storms and flash flooding on Tuesday damaged about 1,000 homes and businesses, said Jim Seward, adjutant general of the West Virginia National Guard.