A tornado touched down in the village of Herkimer Monday afternoon, leaving a trail of damaged homes, trees and scattered debris along a close to mile-long path, according to National Weather Service officials.
While the tornado measured the lowest classification on the Enhanced Fujita scale, according to Raymond O’Keefe, meteorologist in charge for the NWS in Albany, its winds reached 80 miles per hour, capable of knocking people off their feet and severing or uprooting trees.
“Eighty mile-per-hour winds can certainly hurt you badly,” O’Keefe said in a phone interview. “People could get killed. These trees are big; we’re fortunate there were no fatalities and no injuries reported.”
Witnesses first reported seeing a funnel cloud at 3:36 p.m. The tornado first touched down at the corner of Steuben Road and Charles Street on the north side of the village, according to Robert Vandawalker, county Emergency Management coordinator.
“You can actually see the path toward Francis [Street],” he said, re-tracing the southerly direction the storm followed. From there, where a row of pines had been severed behind 527 Francis Street and several tree limbs fell on homes, the path continued down Harter Street. It then curved toward the Herkimer Municipal Pool before crossing State Route 28 and coming to an abrupt finish.
“Witnesses said that it just lifted up into the sky and disappeared near the power station,” Vandawalker said. The tornado is believed to have passed through the village in anywhere from 30 seconds to over a minute, he added.
Due to the short duration and comparatively small strength of the tornado, the NWS was unable to get a radar signature, according to O’Keefe.
These factors, which are common of prior tornados in the state, also didn’t allow for much warning. No severe thunderstorm warning had been issued. But a “special weather statement,” signifying approaching severe weather, had been issued for the area, O’Keefe said.
Residents along the path agreed that the storm came with little warning.
For the more than 40 people at the opening day of the municipal pool, a thunder clap alerted them to get out of the pool, according to Laraine Morra, who was watching her grandson, Antonio.
Lifeguards gathered everyone into the pool house, and they watched over the tops of houses as the storm approached.
“At first I thought, look at all those birds,” Morra said, “but then I realized it was debris blowing from the trees.”
“It was like a leaf tornado,” Antonio added.
The storm passed over the park, knocking a large tree branch onto Morra’s car along with another vehicle in the parking lot.
National Grid responded to pockets of power outages due to downed electrical wires, according to Vandawalker. Sections of Douglas Avenue, Lansing Street and Steuben Road lost power during the storm, he said.
At Fenner Funeral Home, two women were trapped in the elevator during the storm, according to fire department officials. One of the women complained of feeling ill after the incident, which didn’t last more than two minutes, but neither women sustained injuries, according to fire department reports. The names were not available Monday.
Vandawalker said it is too early to know how much tornado damage will cost residents and the village. The repair costs will likely fall well short of federal thresholds for disaster relief, he added, and mainly insurance will cover any damage.
The municipal pool roof had been peeled back slightly, according to village officials. Having been open for just one day, the pool will be closed until the insurance company can assess the damage.
Vandawalker said past reports of tornadoes in Herkimer County have come from more rural areas. He was unable Monday to give exact dates, but said the last confirmed tornado occurred in Cedarville.
But, despite being rare, there is little to control where a storm strikes, according to O’Keefe.
“A tornado goes where it wants to go,” he said. “Unfortunately, it happened to be the village of Herkimer’s turn.”
HERKIMER, N.Y. —
