Kentuckians mark 11 years since devastating West Liberty tornado

WEST LIBERTY (WKYT) - Eleven years ago Thursday, a deadly tornado touched down in West Liberty, Kentucky.

March 2, 2012, if you were in West Liberty, Kentucky, it’s a date you will not soon forget. That is when a deadly EF3 twister, with peak wind gusts of up to 140 miles per hour, carved a path of destruction. To this date, you can still see the scars from that wicked tornado. Buildings that once stood there are now gone.

Mark Walter has called this town home since he was six years old. Walter is now on the West Liberty City Council.

“We keep emphasizing be aware of this time of the year and being prepared for any storm warnings or any weather changes because we’ve been there, we know,” Walter said.

And we’ll never forget.

“The buildings that were destructed have either have been rebuilt, remodeled and replaced, but we lost lives in this community, and we lost six lives and those things we want to remember eleven years later, in our thoughts and prayers, those families that lost loved ones during that time,” Walter said.

Eleven years later, the city continues to recover from that deadly tornado. Still, there’s some good news if another tornado hits; a brand new tornado siren system has been installed to keep them safe from the storm.

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