The April 2nd storm destroyed the roof of Mark’s Mirror Finish at 922 Midland Trail in Hurricane.

The storm which ripped through the area on the morning of Tuesday, April 2nd, came as no surprise to weather forecasters. A tornado watch was issued several hours before the high winds and driving rains hit. Calm turned into chaos in seconds. Power was knocked out to many Putnam communities along the Kanawha River. High winds hit Hurricane and Teays Valley with a fury at 10:50 a.m.

Tuesday is always a crisis day for the Breeze because a 5 p.m. deadline for emailing an electronic copy of Thursday’s edition to our printer must be met. A power outage can quickly turn a crisis into utter desperation. Surprisingly, the lights did not even dim.

There was wind damage in the area. The roof of Mark’s Mirror Finish at 922 Midland Trail in Hurricane was removed and deposited in the highway and in residential yards a hundred yards to the south. The roof at the Commons building at Valley Park was severely damaged. The fruit tree population at the Ranch (Breeze Office) was reduced by two and a portion of the barn roof was torn up with one piece finding a temporary home a hundred feet to the northeast.

Tornadoes were reported in Cabell and in Kanawha but none in Putnam.