Early morning thunderstorm prompts tornado warning for part of Nelson County

NC GAZETTE / WBRT RADIO
STAFF REPORT

Saturday, Dec. 10, 2021 — Nelson County was under a tornado warning overnight in the early morning hours Saturday as a massive tornado-producing supercell thunderstorm passed through Central Kentucky.

The first fatalities caused by this single thunderstorm happened while it was still in Arkansas. At about 8:15 local time, the storm hit a nursing home in Monette, Ark.

The storm entered far Western Kentucky and ravaged Mayfield in Graves County where it destroyed multiple homes, leveled a candle factory, heavily damaged the county’s courthouse and multiple businesses. The death toll in Graves County is expected to exceed 50 victims.

The storm is believed to have stayed on the ground for a total of 227 miles as it traveled northeast, leaving a wide path of destruction in numerous counties along the way. By the time the supercell moved closer to Nelson County, it lost some of its energy and the National Weather Service reported it appeared the tornado had lifted.

At about 1:45 a.m. Saturday, the storm generated a new tornado as it moved into the Bullitt County area, prompting a tornado warning that included the High Grove area in Nelson County. No tornado damage has been reported so far in Nelson County.

In a press conference Saturday morning from Mayfield, Gov. Andy Beshear said he expects the death toll in Kentucky to exceed 100 victims as first-responders. One of the hard-hit areas Beshear mentioned in his press conference was Dawson Springs, which is where Beshear’s family is from.

LOCAL DAMAGE. High winds downed power lines and tree limbs across Nelson County. At noon Saturday, Salt River reported they were still working to restore power to about 230 people, included an outage of more than 100 people in the Summers Lane area off KY 605, and 126 people without power in the Patton Road / Icetown Road area.

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