
EF4 Tornado Confirmed in Laurel County
Clip: Season 3 Episode 255 | 2m 3sVideo has Closed Captions
The National Weather Service says the powerful tornado was on the ground for more than 55 miles.
The National Weather Service confirms four tornadoes touched down in Kentucky on Friday. One of them started in Pulaski County and was on the ground for more than 55 miles into Laurel County where it grew into a powerful EF4.
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Kentucky Edition is a local public television program presented by KET

EF4 Tornado Confirmed in Laurel County
Clip: Season 3 Episode 255 | 2m 3sVideo has Closed Captions
The National Weather Service confirms four tornadoes touched down in Kentucky on Friday. One of them started in Pulaski County and was on the ground for more than 55 miles into Laurel County where it grew into a powerful EF4.
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipThere were actually four tornadoes that touched down in Kentucky on Friday.
Our Christy Dutton breaks down where they were and looks at the historic nature of their strength.
We now have the final reports from the tornadoes that moved across Kentucky last Friday.
EF three tornado there in Union County near Morgan Field, had four injuries from that tornado, did catastrophic damage to some of the homes, ripping off roofs and even the outer walls.
We had two EF2 tornadoes, one in Christian County near Cascade, one that moved from Christian County to Todd County, did some damage along Blue Hole Road, and now the tornado that moved through Pulaski and Laurel County last Friday.
It was a preliminary EF three tornado, but now it has been upgraded to an EF four tornado, and that upgraded the official report from the National Weather Service out of Jackson, Kentucky.
There, in eastern Kentucky.
That EF4 had winds maximum wind speeds of 170 miles an hour.
The path of that tornado was just over 55 miles long, and in one area of that path it got up to be a mile wide.
The touchdown was at 11:49 p.m. late Friday night, and I spoke with a meteorologist from Wymt there in hazard, Kentucky, who was tracking this tornado.
And he said that, of course, the power and strength of this tornado made it very dangerous.
But so did the fact that it was a nighttime tornado.
They are worse because a lot of times people are already in bed.
This is going on at 11:00 at night, going into midnight.
So a lot of people were already in bed.
They have their phone on Do Not Disturb and you can't see what's going on.
The only video that we had that came in at the time, somebody just so happened to catch the tornado because of a lightning strike, and that was the only way we were able to see it.
The last time Laurel County had an EF four tornado was back in the Super Outbreak in 1974.
The last time Pulaski County had an F4 tornado was in 1971.
For Kentucky edition, I'm Christy Batten.
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