Oak Ridge Today

WYSH: Storm damage follow-up; EF0 tornado confirmed in Kingston

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Mike Marsh Home Storm Damage

One of several pictures showing the storm damage Tuesday to the home of Mike and Wanda Marsh on Timbercrest Drive in Oak Ridge. (Photo courtesy Mike Marsh)

 

Information from WYSH Radio

The National Weather Service has confirmed the powerful storms that rolled through the area on Tuesday included an embedded tornado in Kingston.

Officials with the NWS office in Morristown assessed the damage and said an EF-0 tornado touched down along 3rd Street in Kingston. The winds of an EF-0 tornado are around 65-85 miles per hour.

The NWS said the widespread damage throughout East Tennessee was almost entirely from straight-line winds and down-bursts. Kingston is the only site suspected of sustaining tornado damage.

The Weather Service says straight-line winds estimated at 80 mph packed a destructive punch in Clinton, which appeared to bear the brunt of the damage from Tuesday’s severe weather. [Read more…]

Another 12 hours or so to restore power, Electric Department says

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Willow Run Fallen Tree

A giant tree fell at Willow Run Apartments in Clinton and wrecked the fence at the basketball and tennis courts. (Photo courtesy Jim Harris)

 

It could take another 12-13 hours to restore power across Oak Ridge after the severe Tuesday evening storms, the Oak Ridge Electric Department said on Twitter at roughly 9:30 p.m. Tuesday.

That would presumably mean that some customers might not have electricity restored until sometime Wednesday morning.

The Electric Department said the storms knocked down many trees and limbs. Crews have responded to fallen trees, power outages, dangling utility lines, and other problems across town since the short, fierce storm ripped through Oak Ridge and Anderson County at about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. The Electric Department warned residents to stay away from power lines on the ground.

At about 10 p.m. Tuesday, Oak Ridge workers were out cutting up trees and restoring power on Jefferson Avenue.  A few miles away off Pennsylvania Avenue, Plymouth Circle was blocked to traffic, and it appeared that there was a utility line on the road blocked by orange traffic cones. [Read more…]

Cub Scouts, Elks collect donated items to help Oklahoma tornado victims

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Moore, Oklahoma, Tornado Damage

Members of the Oklahoma National Guard’s 63rd Civil Support Team conduct search and rescue operations in response to the EF-5 tornado that ripped through the center of Moore, Okla., on May 20. (Photo by The National Guard/Used under a Creative Commons license)

Since the tragic storms that struck Moore, Okla., on May 20, the Cub Scout Pack 226 of Linden Elementary School and Oak Ridge Elks Lodge #1684 have begun a donation drive to aid victims of deadly tornadoes.

“A generous donation from EnergySolutions of Oak Ridge has put us well on our way,” a press release said.

The Oak Ridge Elks Lodge has offered their facility at 684 Emory Valley Road as a donation center for anyone that wishes to help the community fill a truck with the relief items for the victims of these deadly tornadoes, the press release said. The Cub Scouts will be assembling “comfort kits” for donation to the American Red Cross. These kits contain hygiene items, toothbrush, comb, razor, soap, and other items to give to disaster victims as first-need items. [Read more…]