Tornado slams Pickwick

April 27– A weak tornado is the likely cause of a path of damage stretching a quarter mile wide and two or three miles long across the Pickwick area, according to Hardin County Fire Chief Melvin Martin.

The storm struck around 5:20 p.m. today, just as radar-watching residents began to heave a sigh of relief that the worst of three days of severe weather had passed.

"The National Weather Service didn’t see it. There was no tornado or severe thunderstorm warning" in effect at the time, Martin said.

No one was killed and there were only two noncritical injuries, including a motorist whose vehicle ran into a ditch, he said.

Martin estimated 50 homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed, mostly from falling trees. "None of the houses are really gone," he said.

As of 8 p.m., volunteer firefighters and rescue personnel had most roads in the area cleared of tree trunks, limbs and debris. Power remained out in areas.

Among the hardest hit were Red Sulphur Road, the gated subdivision of Shiloh Falls, and a business behind Central Bank on Tenn. 57-S.

Old Tyme Hardware was demolished, but the more solidly built bank was virtually untouched except for the loss of its sign.