EF-2 Tornado Confirmed to Have Touched Down in Marshall

MARSHALL — The National Weather Service has confirmed an EF-2 tornado touched down in Marshall Friday evening. KETK reports it wasn’t immediately known what path the storm took as it tore through the city. Multiple trees and buildings were heavily damaged, and more than a thousand residents lost power. No serious injuries have been reported. Residents on Cooks Road said cars, rooftops and other material goods were damaged.

“It’s been crazy,” said Thomasina Williams, whose family rallied around her, her husband and their two children, helping them clean up debris from the Friday storm, which tore off part of their roof, destroyed two of their automobiles and knocked down trees. Williams and her family were in the house when the first sign of destruction came. “You could hear something peeling off the roof,” she said, sharing the family took refuge in the closet.

Harrison County Sheriff Tom McCool, who lives down the street, also was cleaning up his property. “We’ve had over 20 people show up to help,” his daughter, Amanda Wheeler, said. “We had three tractors, a backhoe and a gentleman brought a (storage bin) to fit all the metal in,” Wheeler said. The storm hit McCool’s house at about 8:30 p.m. He said he was inside at the time and immediately took cover in his hallway. “I heard a real loud roar — just a real low, loud roaring sound,” he said. “I went into the hallway of the house, and it just lasted a few seconds — literally just a few seconds. “When I came out, there was just stuff scattered everywhere,” McCool said, sharing how dark the sky was.