Today marks one year since an EF2 tornado caused significant damage to the east side and downtown areas of Hopkinsville.
The survey report showed the tornado that came without warning at about 9:30 on New Year’s Day morning in 2022 had maximum winds of 115 mph, was 125 yards wide and stayed on the ground for just over a mile.
It went through 18 city blocks, affecting 85 homes, 13 businesses and two churches. The East Ninth Street Marathon and Family Dollar and Southern States were among the most heavily-damaged businesses.
Southern States has since re-opened on West 15th Street, while that Family Dollar location and the Marathon station have not reopened.
Raymond Hurt of McLean Avenue didn’t need a survey team to tell him what it was as he was working on his pickup outside his home that morning when he saw the tornado headed his way.
Later that day, an EF1 tornado with maximum winds of 90 mph and a maximum width of 50 yards touched down a little over two miles southwest of Allensville in Todd County and stayed on the ground for 5.6 miles before going back into the clouds about a mile south-southwest of Olmstead.
A large barn had half of its roof removed in Logan County, two large garage doors were blown in and numerous trees had branches broken and a few were snapped in Todd County.
There were no injuries or deaths reported with either twister.
