GRANTSVILLE, W.Va. — A strong thunderstorm, which many believed was a tornado, struck in the small community of Phillip’s Run in Calhoun County Tuesday evening. The small community of about 100 homes south of Grantsville on Route 16 was paralyzed most of Tuesday night and Wednesday.
“There was a dense fog that came into that valley right after the event and visibility remained at only 50 to 75 feet for over an hour and it was during daytime,” said Bob Weaver, Publisher of the Hur Herald Internet newspaper. “It really slowed responders being able to get up and down the highway and identify what had happened.”
Weaver was in the area not long after the storm to survey the damage.
“It happened mostly within a two or three mile,” Weaver said. “People described it as a ‘roaring freight train.’ Some people thought it was a tornado although it didn’t really touch down. The high winds stayed above the elevation, but dipped down and knocked down lots to trees and power lines. Some trees fell on dwellings.”
Wednesday afternoon emergency officials were in the area surveying the damage and cleaning up the aftermath. Most of the damage involved trees across roads and power lines. Power was cut to the main line which delivered power to the county seat of Grantsville. Phone lines even into the county’s emergency operations center were impacted by the event.
Calhoun County schools were closed due to a widespread power and phone outage. Crews worked to restore those outages Wednesday and reported good progress.