QUEENS, W.Va. — The National Weather Service confirmed an EF1 tornado touched down briefly within a small community in Upshur County on Wednesday night.
Surveyors made the determination while evaluating the scene in Queens on Thursday morning as residents worked to clean up the damage.
The tornado reached top speeds of 100 mph with a maximum path width of 150 yards and length of 1.9 miles.
The areas hit hardest were Tallmansville Road and Canyon Ranch Lane, where witnesses said the harshest winds began about 7:15 p.m.
No people were injured, but one dog was killed while another was pinned by debris and suffered two broken legs.
“I was actually scared cause I’ve never seen nothing like this before in my life,” said Queens resident Kenny Herron. “There was some wind. I can tell you that.”
From black sky one minute to all-clear the next, Herron said the tornado carved through his neighborhood quickly.
“I seen it kind of raising my porch roof–just raised it–but it didn’t come off at the time,” Herron said. “So I got back into the house and kind of got back into the rooms a little further. I was looking out the window, and I just see debris flying by the window.
Eventually the roof over his porch did come off.
“My roof was gone,” he said. “Half my shingles were ripped off. Trees were laying down. Stuff all over the place.”
Residents were clearing uprooted trees and other debris from their yards.
“We got pretty good neighbors,” he said. “We’ve been helping each other.”
The NWS confirmed a storm approached the area as it was weakening before rapidly regaining strength.
Some structures were damaged as trees fell and uprooted. However, no homes or businesses were destroyed and the roads were clear by Thursday morning.