JACKSON, Ky. — The ruling is in, and the National Weather Service has determined that storm damage early Monday morning in Pike and Floyd counties was the result of straight-line winds, not a tornado.
The National Weather Service office in Jackson accompanied Pike County Emergency Management for a storm survey. That study resulted in the determination that damages to the Floyd County Board of Education central office and the United Helping Hands thrift shop in Pike County were the result of a narrow corridor of straight-line winds.
“Damage found was indicative of straight-line winds, with peak wind speeds ranging from 90 to 100 mph,” the NWS report says. “Rotation aloft associated with this thunderstorm intensified the rear flank downdraft wind, which is straight-line winds focused on the south side of the circulation.
“A fairly wide swath of straight-line wind damage occurred with this storm; however, a more narrow and scattered corridor of intense damage took place, as the rear flank downdraft modulated, as well as interacted with the intricate terrain in this part of Eastern Kentucky.”
That damage started on a hillside between the Right Fork of Beaver Creek and Brush Creek in Floyd County, where tree trunks were snapped and uprooted. The wind also damaged a garage near the intersection of Route 550 and 850, as well as another garage along Route 850.
The next area of significant damage was the old Allen Central High School at Eastern, where the Floyd County Board of Education now has its administrative offices. There, wind penetrated steel doors before blowing out a substantial section of the gymnasium roof.
Further east in Pike County was more substantial damage, where a roof was lifted off of a garage along Red Bird Lane, with the debris embedding into the siding of a nearby residence. There was also more tree damage along Red Bird Lane and across the Levisa Fork of the Big Sandy River.
The wind then damaged the United Helping Hands building, collapsing an outer wall and tearing off a large portion of the roof.
A copy of the full report is reprinted below:
