The NWS determined that the EF1 strength tornado, with speeds between 86-110 miles per hour, left a path of damage 100 yards wide and 6.5 miles long. The NWS has recently begun using the Enhanced Fujita scale to estimate a tornado's strength based on the degree of destruction in its wake. An EF1 tornado causes roofs to be severely stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, loss of exterior doors, and leaves windows and other glass broken, which accurately describes the scene encountered in southern Lincoln County Friday afternoon after the storm had passed.
From just near U.S. 27 to Broughtontown homes, barns and sheds were damaged or destroyed. The McAninch Dairy Farm on Clear Fork Road took a direct hit just as the afternoon milking began. The twister passed directly over the farm and ripped the roof off the milking barn, dropped power lines and toppled a large tree across Clear Fork Road, closing it for several hours.
The twister passed across open country and began destroying property again as it neared Broughtontown School Road and KY 1781, disintegrating one mobile home and severely damaging several others. Debris from the homes was flung high into trees and carried along in the wake of the tornado as it headed toward Broughtontown, pushing one home 10-feet off its foundation before finally dissipating.
Magistrate Johnny Padgett, whose district sustained most of the damage, said, "Everyone is pitching in down there to help in the cleanup." Padgett said that on Monday members of his district's Mennonite community just showed up at the McAninch Dairy Farm and "were just swarming all over the place helping repair the damage." He added, "That's just their way."
In cooperation with Roger Adams, who manages the South Lincoln Memorial Community Center, the Red Cross' Jeremy Blansett established a relief center at the former Kings Mountain school. Blansett said that it wasn't a shelter, but central meeting point for those who'd sustained damage to access help from the Red Cross.
Adams said, "A lot of those folks just showed up with the shirts on their backs and we provided them a dry place to warm up while the Red Cross got them clothes to wear and a place to stay." Blansett said that the Red Cross was providing food, clothing and shelter to five families, two of whom had lost everything to the twister.
Acting County Emergency Manager Troy Gingrass said that Bluegrass 911 activated the county's tornado warning sirens and everything worked well. He reminded county residents that the siren means a tornado strike is either in progress or imminent and that they should take cover when they hear it. A two-tone siren means "all clear."
Gingrass estimates that property damage will reach well over a half-million dollars, and Padgett said that at least one of the mobile homes that sustained heavy damage was uninsured. He said that he was able to obtain roofing at cost for those in need and that Lowe's Home Improvement was also providing material at a reduced cost.
