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Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009

Tornado hits 2 Casey mobile homes

A tornado touched down in Casey County on Friday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service, and at least two more are suspected in other counties.

No serious injuries were reported, though.

Officials are still surveying the damage in Casey County, where the tornado touched down about 2:30 p.m., according to the weather service office in Louisville.

The tornado was an F2 in intensity (the scale goes from F0 to F5). It had winds that reached 118 mph, Casey County dispatcher Scott Wilkerson said.

At least two mobile homes were destroyed in the Creston area, Wilkerson said. There were also power lines and trees down in the area.

The damage closed Ky. 70 and Ky. 206 through at least Friday night, Wilkerson said.

Damage was also reported in Powell and Pulaski counties, and authorities say they suspect it, too, was caused by tornadoes, said John Jacobson, senior meteorologist for the Jackson office of the National Weather Service.

Tiger Robinson, the Pulaski County emergency management director, said most of the damage, though, consisted of downed trees and power lines and not property damage.

Authorities reported moderate to severe damage in many other counties, too.

In Breckinridge County, winds blew the roofs off two trailers and destroyed a tobacco barn near Harned, authorities said. Trees were also down around Hardinsburg.

In Hardin County, authorities reported a barn near Upton being blown away, while at least one roof elsewhere was damaged. Trees and utility poles were snapped in the same area, police said.

In Larue County, the storms destroyed a barn near the Hardin County line and utility poles fell on a home, causing damage.

Barns and homes were also damaged in Marion and Monroe counties.

In Monroe County, one home's roof was blown off, authorities said. Power lines were also down nearby.

The damage came as part of a line of storms that swept the state on Friday.

Rains meant high water in many places, including Grant County, where three people were rescued in the morning after a pickup they were riding in got stuck in high water.

Kentucky State Police said William Upton, 29; Elizabeth Rogers, 35; and a 14-month-old child, all of Dry Ridge, waited in the bed of the Toyota pickup after it got stuck in high water on Elliston Mt. Zion Road about 5:30 a.m. Friday.

Trooper Rick Saint-Blancard said water from a nearby flooded creek had begun to fill the inside of the truck.

The couple and child were rescued by raft about 8 a.m.

The three were treated at the scene. No serious injuries were reported.