Weather service confirms tornado hit Greenwood

Adam Duvernay | The News Journal

National Weather Service survey teams, the state's Emergency Management Agency and Sussex County Emergency Operations confirmed Monday night's storm included a small tornado around Greenwood.

NWS crews were on the ground in Sussex County on Tuesday attempting to determine whether damage from last night's storms came from a tornado or a straight-line wind event.

"National Weather Service officials say that visual evidence, along with radar data received during the storm, helped to confirm their finding of a tornado that impacted a specific area of western Sussex County," said Gary Laing, a community relation officers with DEMA.

Laing added four structures in the area of Sugar Hill Road and St. Johnstown Road were damaged.

Damage investigated near Ellendale was determined to have been straight-line wind between 75-85 mph. The Greenwood tornado likely was an EF0, the weakest classification on the modern scale.

NWS Meteorologist Sarah Johnson said the team arrived around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Damage that goes in a single direction or which fans outward generally is indicative of straight-line wind, she said, while more chaotic damage may point to a tornado.

She said NWS did not receive any reports of funnel clouds in Delaware, though one report did come in from Berks County, Pennsylvania.

The Delaware Electric Cooperative, which provides some of the electric service to Kent and Sussex counties, reported nearly 2,000 homes were left in the dark after the storm.

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Only three homes within the co-op's service territory still were powerless as of 9 a.m. Tuesday, the co-op reported.

Co-op officials also are assessing damage to several structures at its headquarters on U.S. 13 in Greenwood, where the storm's high winds damaged a building used to house electrical equipment.

Two construction trailers, several trees and a large fence were blown over, the co-op reported. The area was under a tornado warning when the storm hit.

“We are thankful no one was injured during the storm and are lucky the winds struck after normal working hours. The area damaged would have been full of workers during the day," Delaware Electric Cooperative President and CEO Bill Andrew said in a news release. "If the storm had hit at 4:00 p.m. instead of 6:15 p.m., employees could have been injured or killed."

Contact Adam Duvernay at (302) 324-2785 or aduvernay@delawareonline.com.