CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Severe weather rolled through the Kanawha Valley Thursday afternoon leaving a wake of destruction.
Strong winds, hail and downpours knocked out power and took down trees in some parts of Kanawha County.
Kanawha City resident Fred Combs was at a family members house when the storm rolled through around 4:30. He decided he wanted to go check on their house located on Washington Avenue, which he soon realized was crushed by a large tree.
“I wasn’t expecting a whole tree through the house,” said Combs. “I thought maybe limbs, but found a tree.”
The massive tree had taken out half of the home, the family room, a bedroom and part of the upstairs. Combs could only cringe when thinking about how it would have been different if the family wasn’t out.
“We thank the good Lord that we weren’t here because if we had been some, all of us probably would be dead,” said Combs.
Jennifer Minnich, who lives along 40th Street in Kanawha City, was also happy to be out of the house after seeing a tree on part of her house.
“When I came around the corner I was totally shocked at what I saw because it just split in two different directions and laying on the roof,” said Minnich.
Her home fared better than Combs’ home, with having very minor damage from the tree. But regardless, she was still counting her blessings.
“A lot of different scenarios running through my head of how things could have been, but I was lucky I wasn’t home and my daughter wasn’t home,” she said.
After the storm rolled through, Appalachian Power Company was reporting more than 2,000 homes in Kanawha County without power with hundreds more in surrounding counties.
Reports of large hail were made in the Louden Heights area near the Kanawha State Forest.
No injuries had been reported as a result of fallen trees from the storm.