Washington County tornado leaves 1 dead, 7 injured

WASHINGTON COUNTY, Ky. (FOX 56) — One person is dead and several others were injured following what the National Weather Service (NWS) is calling an “at least” EF1 tornado on Friday morning in Washington County.

FOX 56 chief meteorologist Justin Logan said that just before 7 a.m., the NWS issued an alert saying a tornado had been seen in southwest Mercer County, heading east at around 35 miles per hour.

Around 7:30 a.m., the Washington County Sheriff’s Office posted on Facebook that emergency crews are being dispatched to the Long Run Road and Deep Creek areas in response to weather-related emergencies.

Tornado warnings were also issued but expired around 7:45 a.m. for Mercer, Boyle, Garrard, and Jessamine counties.

Around 8:30 a.m., Washington County law enforcement asked the public to avoid roads in the area while crews responded to multiple emergency calls.

“There is serious and severe damage,” Washington County deputies wrote. “We are asking everyone to stay off the roads for the time being if at all possible.”

Gov. Beshear posted on social media around 8:45 a.m. that officials are responding to tornado reports in Washington County.

“This level of severe weather was unexpected, with a system still moving through the state,” Beshear wrote.

The sheriff’s office said around 9:45 a.m. that one person had died and multiple people were injured in the wake of the storm.

During an 11 a.m. news conference, Washington County officials confirmed the first dispatch call came out around 7:11 a.m. regarding damaged homes and missing people.

Washington County EMA Director Kevin Devine said seven people were injured: one was removed from one area, four patients were removed from a different house, and two people self-transported for evaluation.

According to Washington County Judge Executive Timothy Graves, two houses along Long Run Road were destroyed, along with various other buildings. It was a small part of the county that was hit, but the areas affected are “devastating.”

Devine noted that there is no siren in the area, but he had received an alert on his phone.

“The sirens that we have in this county are in Springfield and other parts of the county,” Devine said during the news conference. “We do not have a siren out in this area of the county. An outdoor siren would not have gone off in this area.”

County leaders said the NWS is there now evaluating, and the community is beginning to clean up. Additional details on how others can help are to come.

Around 12:15 p.m., NWS Louisville said its preliminary survey determined “at least” an EF1 tornado hit southeastern Washington County. Assessment is still ongoing.

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This is a developing story. Stay with FOX 56 News for updates.