BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — Severe weather brought widespread damage to homes and businesses in Bowling Green early Saturday morning and at least 12 deaths in Warren County, the coroner said.
Brad Ausbrooks woke up to the sound of his phone alerting him that there was a tornado warning in the area early on Saturday. Ausbrooks, who lives off Smallhouse Road in Bowling Green, looked outside.
The weather didn’t terrible, but that didn’t last, he said. “All of the sudden, it just kicked into overdrive,” Ausbrooks recalled on Saturday afternoon.
He saw bright blue and green explosions at one point, which he thinks may have been electrical transformers exploding. The storm pased over his house, but others nearby were damaged or destroyed.
Saturday afternoon, he was cleaning up trees and debris behind a tattoo business along the 31W bypass, a key commercial area in the city. Dozens of businesses were damaged or destroyed along the busy road.
Authorities said severe weather hit Bowling Green and Warren County about 1 a.m. Central time, destroying or damaging houses and businesses, knocking down trees and utility poles and blowing debris into roadways.
Thousands were without power, according to the Bowling Green Municipal Utilities outages map, and authorities estimated that more than 500 homes and 100 businesses had been damaged.
On Saturday evening, Warren County Coroner Kevin Kirby said his office was working 12 cases related to the severe weather. The names of those who died have not yet been released, and Gov. Andy Beshear said the numbers are expected to rise as rescue and recovery efforts continue.
The National Weather Service in Louisville said tornado damage in Bowling Green was categorized as EF-3, with estimated wind speeds of 150 miles per hour. One tornado originated in northeastern Arkansas and lifted up in Breckenridge County, covering a continuous distance of 223 miles, according to the Kentucky Division of Emergency Management.
Beshear reported the tornado may have traveled 227 miles. Beshear called it the “most severe tornado event in Kentucky’s history,” and it is believed to have claimed the lives of at least 70 people.
Damage and fatalities were reported throughout Western Kentucky. The worst of the damage appears to be in Graves County in far Western Kentucky, where Mayfield, the county seat, was been devastated.
A collapsed roof at a Mayfield candle factory with about 110 people inside resulted in mass casualties, Beshear said Saturday morning. Just before noon, about 40 of the 110 people in the factory had been rescued.
The tornado in Bowling Green was a separate one. Officer Ronnie Ward, spokesman for the Bowling Green Police Department, said officers were searching for missing and injured people in a neighborhood off Russellville Road, where there were large amounts of debris as of 1:15 p.m. Central time.
Damage was widespread, he said. “It’s literally all over the city,” Ward said Saturday morning. In a a residential area off Russellville Road, the yards were strewn with broken wood, pieces of siding and insulation stripped from houses and apartments.
Alexis Harney didn’t hear sirens or alerts from her phone, but woke up to the sound of wind early Saturday morning.
The Creekwood Avenue area where she lives was one of the hardest hit areas of town.
Harney jumped out of bed but as she reached for her cat, Willow, the wall of wind hit and debris started flying.
Harney held on to the bathroom door knob with one hand and protected her head with the other. She made it into the bathroom and stayed there until the storm was over.
“It was terrifying,” she said. The storm didn’t last long, and Harney was able to get her phone and shoes.
She called her parents and a neighbor helped her to safety, but her cat was gone. She returned to the street Saturday afternoon to try and find Willow, but she was still missing.
JR Wade, a State Farm insurance agent in Bowling Green had damage at his office on the 31W bypass, including windows blown out.
The building was still standing, but others along the road had been flattened. “It’s devastating damage,” Wade said of the businesses along the bypass. “Catastrophic-type damage to all these buildings.”
Parts of Bowling Green were still without power as people began cleaning up homes and businesses, and Wade said many houses would be too damaged for people to return.
“So many people are going to be displaced,” Wade said.
Western Kentucky University was scheduled to hold its fall graduation ceremonies on Saturday.
The university originally released a statement saying that a student had died in the storms. However, later on Saturday the university clarified that “the student fatality earlier referenced is now believed to instead be the close relative of a WKU student.”
“Information is still arriving, but currently WKU is not aware of any fatalities within the student body,” the university said in a statement.
There were also no injuries or fatalities among students who lived on campus, President Timothy Caboni said, but WKU canceled graduation ceremonies for Saturday. By Saturday afternoon, power had been restored to parts of campus, and other areas were running off of backup generators, according to WKU.
Bob Skipper, chief of the Woodburn Fire Department, said the department was out early this morning in the west part of the county, going from house to house to make sure people were OK.
He saw a lot of property damage, including houses with roof damage and downed utility poles and trees. “It’s flattened a lot of businesses on the bypass,” Skipper said.
Kirby, the coroner, said he has worked through tornadoes before, but “nothing like this.” “We’re seeing a mess,” Kirby said. “It’s like a bomb went off.”
Authorities also were responding to reports of gas leaks caused by the storm damage.
Crews were working to clear debris from roadways, and police urged people not to get on the road unless necessary, but there was a steady stream of onlookers in a badly damaged neighborhood off Russellville Road late Saturday afternoon.
The city had opened several shelters, including one at South Warren High School. Police released a number for people to call to report missing relatives, serious damage, gas leaks and downed power lines. It is 270-393-4116.
Bowling Green Mayor Todd Alcott urged Bowling Green residents to stay off the roads unless necessary, and said if people want to help, they can visit www.redcross.org and designate money for the Warren County chapter.
Alcott praised the city’s first responders, saying they had been working since 1 a.m. “I am proud of our team. I’m proud of Bowling Green. I’m proud of Warren County,” Alcott said. “I’m proud of our emergency central responders and I’m proud of the team that’s come together.”
