Tornado

The year 2006 started in dramatic and near-tragic circumstances for persons in the McKinney area when an F-2 tornado destroyed nearly everything in its path. Bob Peck and his wife and two sons managed to reach the basement of their farmhouse on Greasy Ridge Road secnods before the tornado tore across their farm at about 4:30 p.m. Jan. 2. "We were scared to death," Peck said. "it shook everything. " Almost immediately, relief help came in the form of furniture, food and clothing.

Officials from the National Weather Service have confirmed that a low-grade tornado with 85-mile-per-hour winds touched down in Clark County - part of a deadly line of storms that wreaked havoc across the state on Wednesday. The twister tore a path of damage about 150 yards wide and 3/4 of a mile long in an area near Pretty Run Road in northern Clark County, said Gary Epperson, director of Winchester-Clark County Emergency Management. High winds caused damage to the gable of at least one home and damaged numerous barns, outbuildings and trees.

There are no initial reports of damage in Jessamine County after a tornado warning Tuesday afternoon, according to John V. Carpenter, director of Jessamine County Emergency Management. The National Weather Service in Louisville issued a tornado warning Tuesday afternoon for Jessamine County, northwestern Garrard County in east central Kentucky and eastern Mercer County in east central Kentucky until 2:15 p.m. At 1:36 p.m., National Weather Service Doppler radar indicated a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado.

Helton, Erwin and Associates would like to take a moment and give thanks to our community for the donations we received on March 10 for the tornado victims in West Liberty. We were able to fill one of the PODS with clothing, water, toothbrushes, toothpaste, canned goods, diapers, diaper wipes blankets and pillows. We give special thanks to Dr. Webster's office, Dr. Susan Couzens' office, and Beto and Bogardus' office for donating boxes of toothpaste and toothbrushes; Dr. Warren Nash; Rob Longwill; Bob Allen for loaning a truck; and Woodstock Farms for loaning a trailer that we are still in the process of filling for a return trip.  We will continue to take items until Saturday, March 31, and will send another truck then.  We greatly appreciate everyone's donations, which proves once again, Danville is a very caring and giving community.

Moms often don’t sleep soundly. For more than 20 years, I’ve slept with one ear cocked and ready to hear the slightest sound that my baby needs me. Last week, that ear let me down. “Mom!” Her shout from the door jolted me from a slumber so deep I hadn’t even heard the tornado sirens wailing. Springing catlike from the bed, I charged into the living room to check the weather. Actually, my family might debate the “catlike” adjective, unless cats stumble like drunks.

By the time you are reading this, more than a week will have passed since the monster tornadoes targeted many of our communities. I want to tell the victims that you are not alone; Kentucky stands with you. The Red Cross has been overwhelmed with Kentuckians' generosity, so much so that they are now asking for cash donations instead of material items. I pray that the Lord continues to provide strength to the people who have lost loved ones and possessions and also for the first-responders and other citizens who have worked unfailingly in order to set right what nature has done her best to destroy.

LIBERTY ? Many in Casey County are homeless or living with friends and family after an F2 tornado tore through the Creston area Friday afternoon, destroying an estimated 25 homes and seriously damaging at least 25 more. The tornado touched down at 2:36 p.m., according to the National Weather Service, and was gone again by 2:38 p.m., but the path of damage it left behind was extensive. Jeff Cain was in his car when he saw the tornado touch down. He had pulled over into the Cold Spring Primitive Baptist Church parking lot in order to get good cell phone reception when he noticed the clouds "coming down toward the ground.

STANFORD — The National Weather Service confirmed that an EF-1 tornado hit Lincoln County on Monday morning, damaging the school complex and neighboring property along U.S. 27 south of Stanford. The tornado’s path was 8.2 miles long and 250 yards wide, and  the wind speed reached 100 mph. No injuries were reported. The tornado first touched down at 6:49 a.m. about .8 of a mile southwest of Stanford. It then traveled southeast, damaging the Lincoln County Middle School complex about a mile south of Stanford.