Weather service: two tornadoes hit Kanawha Tuesday, damage assessments ongoing

At least two tornadoes were part of the storm system that hit Kanawha County on Tuesday, according to preliminary information from the National Weather Service in Charleston. 

Crews from the weather service are continuing to do damage assessments in Kanawha County on Friday, said John Peck, a meteorologist with the weather service.

Preliminary results of damage assessments confirm that an EF1 tornado with wind speeds of up to 110 miles per hour hit the community of Quick, destroying two mobile homes in the 7000 block of Quick Road and snapping a utility pole there at its base, the weather service said. 

An EF2 tornado with wind speeds up to 115 miles per hour went eight miles from Cross Lanes to Wallace, according to the weather service. The twister there caused tree damage in three areas — in the area of Hidden Pines Lane, the 5000 block Rocky Fork Road, and south of the community of Wallace. The weather service report does not indicate the tornado caused damage to homes there. 

The weather service on Thursday preliminarily confirmed a tornado had hit the town of Hico in Fayette County Tuesday. 

The storm system brought winds and hard rain through the Kanawha Valley early Tuesday afternoon, taking down trees, powerlines and billboards and leaving around half of Kanawha County residents without power. As of Friday morning, more than 7,700 Kanawha County households remained out of power, according to Appalachian Power. 

C.W. Sigman, director of the Kanawha County Homeland Security and Emergency Management told Kanawha County commissioners during a meeting Thursday that the county’s siren system worked. A couple of the sirens did not sound because “the sirens blew so much and wore the batteries down,” Sigman said. “But they activated.” 

County Manager Jennifer Herrald said county workers have been going  “basically door to door” helping people complete damage assessments if needed and working with municipalities to get information about damage from them. Damage surveys may be completed online.

“We do know that some structures have been completely demolished,” Herrald said. “At this point not a large number but a few. A lot of the damage has been trees that have gone through roofs of houses, trees knocked down in backyards or front yards of homes. Shawnee Sports Complex had “very severe damage.”