Cleanup goes on around Tellico Plains, Tennessee after tornado touchdown

 

(Photo: WBIR)

(WBIR – TELLICO PLAINS, TN) The National Weather Service in Morristown confirmed Wednesday an EF1 tornado occurred the day before in Monroe County.

A Sweetwater church turned out in force Wednesday to help community members who suffered damage from Tuesday's high winds. July 15, 2015 

The twister touched down near Gamble Gap Road in Tellico Plains, downing trees in every direction, pulling down power lines and creating a mess for people to clean up today. One resident recalled darkness fell quickly before the hit, then it grew quiet, and then it "just like a boom."

It's not the first time the Monroe County community has seen such destruction.
Felecia Bookout remembers a strike in 2011. She lost her home in that one.
"That one was more of a freight train type experience. This one was different. It was more all of a sudden and come out of nowhere."


Elsewhere, in Sweetwater, straight-line winds reaching 70 mph did damage in Sweetwater.

No injuries were reported.

An EF1 tornado and straight line winds caused damage Tuesday in Monroe County. 

Residents spent their day cleaning up across Monroe County.
The wind, mixed with heavy downpours, took their toll on one Sweetwater neighborhood.

"After it quit we came down here looking around. And we thought 'It's a disaster.' There's trees down everywhere," said Larry Tyler.

There were 15-20 trees down in the neighborhood, one on the roof of a house. Luckily, none of the homes were destroyed, but many were left with serious damage.

The wind also knocked the steeple off of Sweetwater First Assembly Church.
But that wasn't the focus for church members. They headed out into the community to help others.

They soon found the McGeachy family, who had just moved into their new home. Then, winds toppled four trees in their yard, and one crashed through the ceiling into the guest bathroom.

No one was hurt...but the damage was too much for this family to handle alone.
The 20 extra sets of hands sped up the clean up, but it will still likely take several days.

The church canceled their Wednesday service in hopes of getting more volunteers out in the community, which was much appreciated by the victims of the storm.


According to the National Weather Service office in Nashville, the EF1 tornado in Pickett and Fentress Counties were the first tornadoes ever to occur in those counties in July.

The EF1 tornado in Putnam County is only the second tornado to occur in that county in July. The previous F1 tornado in Putnam County occurred on July 13, 1956.