Tornado Confirmed in Lawrence County

By Lilly Adkins

BSN Associate Editor

LOUISA — The US National Weather Service out of Charleston, W.Va. confirmed on Wednesday on Facebook, that Monday’s storm, which caused damage to multiple homes in Lawrence County was in fact an EF1 tornado.

“An EF1 tornado touched down just east of Yatesville Lake, uprooting or snapping several large trees on Aspen Drive and on Birch Road. Three houses were damaged by fallen trees on Birch Road with one home suffering extensive damage to an attached garage as a large tree fell on it. The tornado then tracked eastward skipping along an almost six and half mile track, crossing US 23 and the Big Sandy River just north of Louisa before continuing into West Virginia. A roughly 400-yard-wide swath of rather extensive tree damage occurred on the west side of the Big Sandy River near a logging yard and two semi-trailers were overturned at that location. The tornado then briefly lifted on the West Virginia side of the river before another area of tree damage was noted and a house was slightly damaged at the intersection of Route 52 and Fort Gay Road. Some additional tree damage was noted further to the east up Fort Gay Road and this is estimated to be the end of the track,” the US National Weather Service said on their page. “Thanks to Lawrence County Emergency Management, Louisa Fire Department and the Fallsburg Fire Department for the assistance and use of a drone for this survey.”

Louisa Fire Chief Eddie Preston posted photos of what appeared to be a tornado and damage done to homes along Cottonwood and Birch Road, just outside of Louisa.

Lawrence County Emergency Management Director Travis Hughes also said the storm caused damage to State Route 1185, Aspen Lane, Rt 3 North, near Hwy. 1185, Fuller’s Ride and US 23 had several places hit that caused damage to houses and buildings. He also said that several trees had fallen on power and cable lines causing outages.

Wayne County, W.Va. Office of Emergency Management also said that the US National Weather Service out of Charleston, W.Va. officially confirmed that the damage along Rt. 37 and Rt. 52 was caused by an F1 Tornado.

The tornado on Aug. 7, according to the National Weather Service, was an EF1, with an estimated peak wind of 100 mph, on a 6.3-mile path, 400 yards wide that began at 3 p.m. at Yatesville Lake and ended at 3:10 p.m. in Fort Gay, W.Va.