Published: May 03, 2008 01:34 am            

High winds hit Canton

NWS confirms EF-1 tornado

CANTON — Athens resident Flo Ferrell was getting ready to hand over her money to park at First Monday Trade Days when she felt a gust of wind blow against the side of her vehicle.

It was enough to make her turn around — just in time to see the funnel cloud.

While the National Weather Service’s official determination did not come until late afternoon that an EF-1 tornado did indeed touch down Friday morning in Canton, just north of Athens, others were left with no doubts.

Ferrell said the funnel cloud dropped about 20 feet away from her.

“I looked up and there it was,” said Ferrell, who arrived at First Monday just after 8 a.m.

Damage was caused by a line of storms that moved across East Texas Friday morning. After moving through Canton, the line of storms crossed Athens and Henderson County. Storm spotters were dispatched at various locations across the county, but none saw anything more than a serious-looking wall cloud and a little rain.

Jesse Moore, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Fort Worth, said a team was expected to be sent to Canton Friday. The team aims to determine if Friday morning’s damage was, in fact, caused by a tornado or straight-line winds.

“It appears, just from what we’ve heard, it was” a tornado, Moore said.

Lt. Pat McWilliams, public information officer for the Henderson County Sheriff’s Department, said he had not heard any reports of damage here by noon Friday.

Henderson County Sheriff Ronny Brownlow said he heard a funnel cloud began forming near Poynor, but it apparently did not do any major damage and moved on to the east. He said he also talked with officials in Chandler on the far east end of the county, but the storm passed there without causing damage, as well.

“Looks like we dodged a bullet,” Brownlow said.

Canton Mayor Rusty Wilson said his city might consider itself lucky, too.

Wilson said a funnel cloud reportedly touched down near Old City Park, then southwest and east of First Monday. Between six to 10 minor injuries were reported. Power lines were downed in some areas, and high winds turned a vehicle over on the main drag in front of First Monday’s east gate. Two people inside were rescued, and Canton Fire Chief Charles Bazhaw said neither suffered major injuries.

Two people suffered heart attacks, Bazhaw said, but he added that he can’t say whether those medical conditions were brought on as a result of stress over the storm.

“We’re very fortunate because we had a lot of people down on the grounds (at First Monday),” Wilson said. “None of the major pavilions were damaged. ... These vendors, they’re very resilient. Everything’s going to be fine here.”

According to its Web site, First Monday attracts as many as 7,000 dealers and 300,000 visitors to its open-air market. The market is open before the first Monday of each month.

As Ferrell sat in a parking area watching the storm, vendor Martha Shafer and her husband were getting ready to open up their shop, Martha’s Hidden Treasures. Mrs. Shafer said her husband saw the funnel cloud coming down the alley where their shop — which sells a number of glassware items — is located.

“He said, ‘Get in there!’ and pushed me in that building,” she said, sweeping branches off the wet asphalt near her shop. “I’m surprised we didn’t have anything lost.

“It didn’t take long, then it was gone,” she added.

Word that a tornado may have touched down didn’t seem to bother the hundreds of people who streamed into the front gates at First Monday late Friday morning.

Said Nathan Kirkpatrick, a College Station resident working one of the parking areas: “(Shoppers) started coming in about 15 minutes after it was over.”

After a National Weather Service crew visited the site Friday afternoon, the agency confirmed that a category EF-1 tornado struck Canton with estimated wind speeds of about 90 mph, which is on the low end range of speeds.

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Jayson Larson is editor of the Athens Daily Review. He can be reached via e-mail at editor@athensreview.com.

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The Associated Press also contributed to this report.

        

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