MEMPHIS, Tennessee — A survey team from the National Weather Service Memphis office traveled north to Tipton County after a confirmed EF-1 tornado touched down there late Sunday afternoon, including near the communities of Munford and Drummonds.
Thankfully, no one died or was injured during the storm, but the damage left plenty of clean up for homeowners and crews Monday.
"In this case we know it was a tornado. We have the radar evidence. We have the eyewitness evidence, so we know it was a tornado. So now our main goal is to determine the strength of the tornado, the EF scale that we'll assign it, the beginning point, the ending point, the path length, the path width and etc.," Gary Woodall, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service Memphis office said Monday.
Later Monday, the NWS said the tornado was rated an EF-1 with winds of 95 mph. It was on the ground for nearly 5 miles near Munford.
Woodall's team focused on Glen Springs Road and Campground Road in Tipton County, where those with the Covington-Tipton County Emergency Management Agency said at least a dozen properties were damaged.
"Mainly roof damage so far," Woodall said. "We have seen a lot of tree damage, a lot of trees that were uprooted. Some tree trunks that were snapped. A lot of damage to storage buildings, storage sheds as well."
Emergency responders Monday believed 71-year-old Lynn Simmons' property near Munford was likely impacted the most.
The tornado toppled trees on Simmons' property and sheet metal from his heavily damaged barn flew more than 100 yards.
"I was sitting at my desk and I heard the wind get kind of strong. I heard about three booms and that was it," Simmons said. "A minute after that I walked out and all of this was done."
Simmons said he's never seen a storm so severe or fast after living his entire life in Tipton County.
"I didn't have time to go nowhere. When I heard the boom it was over with," Simmons said. "Said something on TV, had it on, something about Campground Road and that's when all hell broke loose."
The National Weather Service, after a storm survey, will do a follow up report on NWS' operations and how the storm evolved and things NWS can pick up and learn from.
