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F2 tornado in Madison County, Kentucky

Tornado April 20, 1996 · Madison County, Kentucky

F2
Rating
2.0 mi
Path length
200 yd
Path width
10
Injuries
$12.8M
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

NOAA recorded where this tornado touched down but not where it lifted, so it appears as a point. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F2 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F2 meant considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted; the scale paired it with winds of 113–157 mph, figures later judged too high, especially toward the top of the scale, and revised downward in the Enhanced Fujita scale. Ratings then, as now, came from the damage.

The wider storm

A tornado touched down on the on the East side of interstate 75 at the Ky 21 exit at 445 am est. There the tornado destroyed a Sunoco gasoline station and ripped the roof of a Howard Johnson's motel. The tornado moved East-Northeast across the South side of Berea to just East of Ky 25 before dissapating around 450 am est. The tornado damaged around 800 homes and 40 businesses. 35 houses were destroyed or eceived major damage, while 26 business were destroyed or received major damage. Home damage was estimated at 6.7 million dollars...while damage to businesses was estimated at 6.1 million dollars. There were only minor injuries reported with the most serious being a broken collar bone. The tornado caused a storage tank to topple on the Parker Seal plant which produces O-rings for the space shuttle mission. Also damaged were parts of Berea College. Most of the damage there was due to fallen and uprooted trees. The "Old Town" section of Berea, where craftspeople make and sell high quality furiniture and other goods saw several businesses badly damaged. The roof of the town's old train depot, now a tourist center, caved in. Many homes were reported as flattened. The Red Cross, Salvation Army and 130 members of the National Guard were sent to aid the cleanup effort. The National Weather Service storm survey the damage path revealed an F2 tornado embedded in straight-line winds.

Began near Berea (37.5700, -84.3000).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5547409. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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