Tornado sighted in county

Severe weather hit the county today – and much earlier than anticipated.

There were tornado sightings, whether it was the same tornado or more than one, is not clear, but there are no cofirmed touchdowns.

Sheriff Roger Newlon said there was damage reported on State Road 135 North.

“There’s a house with siding off the back and a playhouse was destroyed there,” Newlon said. Metal was torn from a barn roof in that same area.
Some small trees were also blown down and some large limbs were pulled from trees by the wind.

“I can’t say what the damage is from, it could be rotation, but we can’t be sure,” Newlon said. “It could just be high wind.”

Walmart employees saw a funnel cloud as the storm passed through.

Manager Mike King said an employee told him she’d seen a tornado. Doubting it really was, he went to the front to look out.
“Sure enough – there was a tornado over Burger King!” he said. “It never hit the ground.”

Chris Spicer, an employee of the nearby Verizon store, confirmed what Walmart employees saw.
“I saw it in the air, it kept coming down and going back up.”

Newlon said there were several sightings of above the ground rotation.
“It came earlier than it was supposed to,” he said of the damaging winds. “We were listening to National Weather Service conference call on [severe weather] this evening when it came through.

Be prepared for a stormy night ahead. Pop-up storms are forecast throughout the area tonight. If you hear the tornado siren or suspect conditions are threatening, take cover in a basement or interior room immediately.