Tornado touched down in Fayette County, weather service says

The National Weather Service in Charleston posted a tornado warning on X on Tuesday, April 2, 2024. The NWS has confirmed a tornado did touch down in Hico. (National Weather Service photo)

A tornado hit the town of Hico in Fayette County during Tuesday’s severe weather , according to a preliminary assessment by the National Weather Service in Charleston.

The tornado was believed to have been an F2 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale for damage , said Simone Lewis, a meteorologist with the weather service, meaning wind speeds were between 111 miles per hour and 130 miles per hour.

Powerful winds and hard rain swept through the area Tuesday, taking down trees and power lines and leaving about half of Kanawha County without power . Gov. Jim Justice on Tuesday issued a state of emergency for Fayette, Kanawha, Lincoln, and Nicholas counties after storms thunderstorms caused flooding, downed trees, power outages, and road blockages. On Thursday, Justice amended the state of emergency to include Barbour, Brooke, Hancock, Marshall, Ohio, Wetzel, and Wood because of flooding and other storm related threats.

In Kentucky, 11 tornadoes were confirmed to be part of Tuesday’s storms, news outlets there reported. One person in Kentucky died as a result of the storm.

Lewis said a storm survey crew from the agency was assessing damage in the Charleston area Thursday afternoon to determine if a tornado also touched down there.

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