Tornado kills one woman in Taylor County, damages 70 homes
A woman in her 40s was killed by a devastating tornado that roared through northern Taylor County Saturday morning and destoryed or heavily damaged 70 homes, according to Taylor County Emergency Management Director Ronnie Dooley.
Teresa Duncan, 42, died from blunt force trauma, according to Taylor County Coroner Daniel Cook. Dooley said she was inside a mobile home on Quisenberry Road in the Saloma community when the tornado struck.
The home was completely destroyed, according to Dooley.
Twelve others were transported to Taylor Regional Hospital, Dooley said. The health status of those 12 is unknown.
According to Dooley, the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for Taylor County shortly after 3 a.m. Saturday morning. The tornado hit northwestern Taylor County at approximately 3:15 a.m. and excited the northeastern part of the county 15 minutes later after crossing through the northern part of the county.
“The tornado tracked on across northern Taylor County into the Feather Creek Road, Sanders Road area on across Kentucky highway 289 into Kindness Road area and then on northeast into Finley Ridge area before exiting over into Marion County,” Dooley said.
Dooley estimated the tornado was a half-mile to three-quarters of a mile wide. He conservatively guessed the tornado was an EF3, possibly an EF4.
The National Weather Service plans to visit Taylor County on Sunday to investigate, he said.
The tornado destroyed or heavily damaged 70 homes and 250-300 large trees, he said. Thirty to 40 people were displaced as a result of the twister, and they were transported by school bus to Taylor County High School, which served as a makeshift shelter and clinic.
“These were people that were uninjured but mostly in shock and disbelief as to what happened and what they just came through,” Dooley said.
Dooley said those people are now with family and the shelter has been shut down.
All others are accounted for, so it’s no longer a search and rescue mission, he said.
Dooley said central and southern parts of the county escaped without damage. No businesses were affected, as the area hit was very rural.
Dooley also gave a lot of credit to the National Weather Service’s code red warning system that issued an alert roughly 30-35 minutes before the tornado hit.
“We did have a lot of people sign up for code red, so no doubt code red probably saved more lives by giving these people that much of an advanced warning,” Dooley said.
This story was originally published December 11, 2021 at 2:39 PM.
