NWS: Tornado Touched Down Near Greenwood in Sussex County

GREENWOOD, Del. -- The National Weather Service has confirmed an EF-0 tornado touched down in Sussex County near Greenwood on Monday in a weather event that ripped trees out of the ground and damaged buildings.

The NWS announced on Tuesday that a path of straight-line winds started in a wooded area started in an area near the intersection of Adams Road and 583A near the Delaware Electric Cooperative.

"Several trees were snapped and uprooted, then the south end of a warehouse at the Delaware Electric Cooper was pushed in with two large garage doors blown out. A section of the roof was also significantly damaged," read an announcement on the NWS website.

However, the NWS said there was no clear evidence a tornado touched down at the coop but did acknowledge security camera footage from the cooperative which showed heavy winds blowing around the area.

DEC spokesman Jeremy Tucker said the warehouse was significantly damaged and trailers at the facility's headquarters were flipped by the winds. By late morning, the trailers had been uprighted.

Despite the damage, Tucker said the cooperative was fortunate the storm system had not entered the area earlier in the day, when more people may have been working outside at the facility along U.S. Route 13.

"We can replace buildings, construction trailers, and equipment but not people," he said.

A number of trees surrounding a small residential area next to the cooperative had been knocked down, ripped out of the ground, or damaged by the heavy winds.

NWS said data showed a tornado did touch down on the other side of U.S. Route 13, between Nanticoke River and the intersection of Sugar Hill Road and St. Johnstown Road, and tracked northeastward for about 0.6 miles before lifting.

"There was significant damage to a farm, with a couple of small barns destroyed with a lot of debris lofted and blown far across an adjacent field. Several trees were snapped or blown over along with damage to a few nearby power poles and wires. A large unoccupied chicken coup, about 200 feet in length, was lifted and moved several feet off its foundation with some metal roof panels on the north end were twisted in a southerly direction. Across the street from the farm on Sugar Hill Road, a couple sections of large central pivot irrigation systems were lifted and tipped onto their side. Each section of the irrigation weighs about 8800 pounds," the agency wrote in its advisory.

John Huffman said the storm system was brief but fierce and tossed a trailer in his front yard onto a Cadillac behind it, something he said prevented the trailer from hitting his home.

"It was wild," he said. "Everyone was going helter skelter and everything out here was really crazy."

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