The damage perpetrated by a tornado late Friday night and into early Saturday in Falls of Rough became evident Saturday morning as the darkness gave way to daylight.
As K105 reported Saturday morning, Grayson County did not escape the path of what is now considered the most catastrophic series of tornadoes to ever strike Kentucky.
Northwest Grayson County, primarily Falls of Rough and Short Creek, were placed under a tornado warning a few minutes after 11:00 Friday night. The tornado, which formed in Arkansas and rampaged through Missouri and Tennessee before entering Kentucky in the Jackson Purchase, continued on the ground as it churned northeast, reaching Grayson County at around 11:40 p.m.
The path of the twister, preliminarily labeled by the National Weather Service as an EF-3 with winds up to 140 miles per hour as it impacted Ohio and Grayson counties, is evident in the Green Farms Road (Hwy 110) area, as it narrowly missed a direct blow to Green Mansion Bed & Breakfast. A home under construction (and nearly complete) on Sandy Court West, due east of the mansion, was heavily damaged, as were countless trees in and around the area.
Most outbuildings in the Green Farms Road area were destroyed.
On Falls of Rough Road between Green Farms Road and the entrance to Rough River Dam State Resort Park, the damage became a stark reality Saturday morning as several homes, businesses, boats, and vehicles suffered varying degrees of destruction.
In the 14900 block of Falls of Rough Road, a boat was flipped and structure damage sustained near Mercer and Sons Marine. Power lines were taken down, as well, as Falls of Rough Road was closed from about midnight until 4:00 a.m. Saturday morning.
The area was closed and preserved by Falls of Rough firefighters as well as the Grayson County Sheriff’s Office.
Grayson County Emergency Management Director Tony Willen said he is unaware of any injuries associated with the tornado.
“We’re blessed the tornado didn’t hit a more populated area,” Willen said. “There is tremendous destruction in the Falls of Rough area.”
Willen said the Grayson County Detention Center provided trustees to help with cleanup, along with Rough River Dam State Resort Park workers. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet also assisted with clearing the area of debris. Fire departments assisted in initial damage estimates, including personnel from Leitchfield and Caneyville.
Willen, recognizing the deadly bullet the county missed relative to the catastrophic death and devastation absorbed by many areas of western Kentucky, offered his condolences to those suffering a fate much worse than the people of Grayson County.
“We pray for those thousands of families in Kentucky who suffered loss of life and destruction of property in this catastrophic event,” he said.
Ohio County damage
In Ohio County, Hartford, Centertown and Olaton were the hardest hit by the tornado, as several homes and businesses were either heavily damaged or completely destroyed, including a chiropractor’s office near Hartford.
In Olaton, “40 to 50 houses … have been destroyed,” according to Ohio County Emergency Management Director Charlie Fields. One person in Olaton was injured. Fields said the twister did more damage in Olaton than any other part of Ohio County.
Several homes on Utley Drive, about three miles northwest of Hartford proper, were destroyed. One home was dropped onto another, narrowly missing injuring or killing about a dozen people. Multiple vehicles were also destroyed in the area.
No reports of fatalities have come from Ohio County.
(Headline photo: Damage along Falls of Rough Road. All Falls of Rough photos courtesy of Nancy Blain-Brooks)
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
