HARDIN COUNTY, Ky. — Surveyors with the National Weather Service (NWS) confirmed tornadoes touched down in three Kentucky counties Friday night.
"Right now it looks like an EF-1 tornado, about 100 miles per hour or so," said Mike Kochasic, a Warning Coordination Meteorologist for NWS Louisville.
Kochasic spent Saturday surveying the damage for NWS Louisville.
He said there are always surprises when it's time to survey the damage.
"It's always amazing the power of wind. And it's just incredible the amount of tree damage we've seen so far and some of the roof damage you saw to the west of Elizabethtown," said Kochasic.
"We heard the glass shattering as we were going down to the basement. It was terrifying," said Kendra Covell. "I lost it when we came upstairs and saw everything. It was really devastating."
Kendra and her husband Brian Covell live in Hardin County. Like many in Kentucky, this isn't their first tornado, so they knew what had to be done to keep their family safe.
"We just knew, you know, as soon as we were alerted to the danger we just needed to, you know, grab the kids and go and don't worry about anything else. Just sit down there and that's what we did," said Brian Covell.
Kochasic notes that getting to a storm shelter or a basement is most important no matter how strong you think the storm may be.
"It doesn't look like a lot of damage here, it's just trees, but if they fall on a structure or a garage or if you are in a car, anything like that, it can be very dangerous," said Kochasic.
For the neighbors in Bullitt County, that almost became their reality.
"We got over here and walked past the shed and saw the tree limb laying here almost against the house," said Terry Etherton of Lebanon Junction, KY.
These storms could have been deadly, but they weren't. Kochasic says there's a reason for that.
"We haven't had any injuries or, and thank goodness, no deaths. But we like to think that that has something to do with our warnings getting out on time and people taking the appropriate actions," said Kochasic.
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