Published: May 13, 2008 10:27 am      

EF-1 tornado hits the Falls

Officials say Sunday’s storms brought EF-1 tornado to Cumberland Falls area

By Samantha Swindler / Managing Editor

State work crews were still clearing debris from Cumberland Falls State Resort Park on Monday after a EF-1 tornado touched down at the park Sunday morning.

As of Monday morning, only the Dupont Lodge and park campground were open to the public.

“The trails are all closed, the falls area is closed,” said Park Manager Lisa Davis. “We have limited food service. The cottages are closed. We have unstable phone service in the lodge. We have no phone service in the cottages.”

Sunday was Mother’s Day, a traditionally busy day for the falls. Davis said the Riverview Restaurant at the lodge had prepared to feed 600 people Sunday before the storm passed over shortly after 9 a.m. and changed everyone’s plans.

About 150 guests were trapped at the lodge for several hours Sunday while Hwy. 90 was closed.

Power was out at the lodge for about four hours, Davis said, but the building sustained no storm damage

“As soon as possible, I called for a briefing with all the guests, and I kept them informed of every new development,” Davis said.

Guests were given free food and offered a free night’s stay at the park.

“We had trees that hit some of the cottages and some of the woodlands, but all in all we had minimal damages to accommodations,” Davis said.

Davis’ home on park property was actually the most severely damaged structure after a large tree fell through her and her husband’s bedroom ceiling. The house, she said, is still occupiable, and the National Guard responded and helped put out tarps to cover the roof damage.

“The call went out and it was answered with amazing response time,” Davis said of all those who responded. Davis thanked Cumberland Valley Rural Electric for working tirelessly to restore power to the lodge and Jerry Rains, who coordinated emergency efforts. She said Oak Grove Volunteer Fire Department was the first to respond after the tornado.

Former park employee Cecil Honeycutt of McCreary County came out to the lodge Monday morning to assess the damage for himself. In his 24 years working at the park, up until 1994, he said he never saw worse damage.

“We had an ice storm here, but this has done more damage,” he said as state crews used chain saws to remove fallen trees from the lodge parking lot.

Late Sunday night, the National Weather Service confirmed that an EF-1 tornado with winds of up to 110 mph had crossed the state park. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates tornados from the weakest (EF-0) to the strongest (EF-5).

Amazingly, even though some campers were outside in tents during the tornado, Davis said there were no injuries reported.

Monday morning, Davis was optimistic that electricity could be restored throughout the park within 24 hours, but hiking trails would likely remained closed for several weeks. Their damage had not yet been assessed.

Sunday night, the park retained about 60 guests and another 50 reservations were scheduled for arrival Monday. Anyone wanting to make or check on reservations should call the park at 800-325-0063. The park phone has been working on an intermittent basis.

Davis wasn’t sure whether the annual Cumberland Falls River Cleanup scheduled for Saturday would still be held, but said “the river cleanup has taken on a whole new meaning... We’ll get information out as soon as possible.”