Storms deal ‘really severe’ damage to Kirksville area of Madison County

MADISON COUNTY, Ky. (WKYT) - Downed trees, destroyed cars and a roof ripped clean off a home. The Kirksville area of Madison County serves as a small sample of the devastation brought on by the storm system early Saturday morning.

“We believe this is the hardest hit area in Madison County,” said Michael Stotts, a Madison County Sheriff’s Deputy. “We know that we have trees down, we have flooding in other areas but by far, this is the most damage that we’ve heard of at this point.”

Stotts says a survey will need to be done to determine if a tornado was the cause.

“We don’t know if it’s a confirmed tornado,” Stotts said. “I’m sure that the National Weather Service or whoever is responsible to determine if it’s a tornado will do that in the coming days.”

Stotts said the storms have produced some of the most severe damage he’s seen in his years serving Madison County.

“It’s really severe damage,” said Stotts. “I know that many years ago we had another tornado in this area and it was more widespread. The best we can tell is [this storm has] kind of been confined to this area.”

Stotts said two families sheltered in this home after a tornado warning came out around 4 on Saturday morning.

But thanks in part to early and ample warnings, Stotts says those families are safe and there are no reported injuries in the county.

“I know this morning, waking up myself that we had plenty of warning of the tornadoes in the area that gave plenty of time to seek shelter and cover,” Stotts said.

Stotts added that he is unsure about the extent of power outages in the county, but could confirm Saturday afternoon that at least the Kirksville area was without power.