Night of the Tornadoes (Johnson City, Kingsport: power lines, house, neighborhood)

[BP72]

How did you fair? I hope everyone is ok. My little area of Kpt..only hail, lightning and rain.

[Josh Woods]

Certainly some of the wildest lighting I have ever seen in the area.

My father who is in his 50's said it's the largest hail (tennis ball size) that he has ever seen. Other than a broken window from a tree branch, I was happy!

I guess more details will come when the daylight breaks.

[mbmouse]

All is fine in our little area of Gray. Crazy night though!

[rccrain]

Only had two 10 minute thunder storms near WD Park in JC. We were very lucky, nasty storms passed just to our north and south.

[DubbleT]

We have broken and downed trees all around the neighborhood here in Bristol. We were without power for most of the night and this morning I noticed a brand new pole on the corner, next to what was left of a pine tree. DD said she heard the utility crew working the neighborhood most of the night to get power restored. Props to them!

The street in front of my house is literally green with leaf debris from the hail, looks almost like a freshly mowed lawn. My bushes and flower beds are ragged and I have a dimpled car, but I am thankful that is the worst thing I have to complain about.

It was an amazing thing to watch though.

[kamoshika]

Six confirmed deaths in Greene County, with four more reported but unconfirmed. The Camp Creek & Horse Creek area were especially hard hit. Hope all of jabogitlu's relatives and friends made it through OK.

[jabogitlu]

We all made it through okay as far as I know! I live on Highway 107 kinda between the 107 Cutoff and Philadelphia/Baileys Bridge Road. Most of my family lives right in the thick of this storm's path, Greystone Road and Laws Road areas. The worst damage was all the porch posts on my grandmother's house are gone. It's pretty incredible that we're all okay, because the pictures I'm seeing of Camp Creek are absolutely devastating. Hearing that the WIKQ transmitter building is gone, that Greystone School is gone, and down in Newport that an entire trailer park is gone.

Sounds to me like the worst of the storm came from Newport into Del Rio, then through White Sands and Camp Creek up towards South Central in Washington County. A hard path because most of these folks are poor and the roads aren't that great to begin with. Thoughts and prayers with all of them and with the folks up in Glade Springs VA and other areas.

[TampaKaren]

I have family and friends in Greene County. My 75-year old mother said it was the worst thing she's ever seen or been through. My cousin in South Greene (near the High School) said the lightning was all around the house and the wind was howling. Thank goodness for basements. Both had only some shingles blown off the house and there's lots of debris to clean up. I have two friends who've lost everything and one friend who's lost her best friend and her husband. Reports, pictures & video are still coming in. The after effects are just heartbreaking. It's hard being in Tampa knowing I can't be there to help.

[Josh Woods]

It was a "HAIL" of a storm, that's for sure!

[bkjonesborough]

A friend in Gray says that there is major damage out that way - And I think they have a curfew in Fall Branch and around that way tonight. Apparently a lot of downed power lines in the road. Last night one of the last warnings said there was a tornado leaving Greeneville and headed to Johnson City/Erwin. We waited it out in silence and nothing came. Did that one ever touch ground anywhere?

I saw some really sad stories on the news this morning. One I remember was a trailer in Kingsport that had all their windows blown out in the home and cars. The family didn't know about the tornado warning until a relative called, and about that time the hail started, and they couldn't do anything but hide in the closet. They said the whole trailer rocked but fortunately that was all.

Out here by ETSU we were ok, but the SIRENS sure kept us in knots for hours! We evacuated to the basement 3 times last night, and a neighbor without a basement came over too. About 3:30 we got the happy bells and an echo of 'all clear' for several minutes. We all high five'd each other and went to bed!

Storms at night = No fun!