Canton hit by tornado
By Nathan Straus News Reporter

Storm sirens blared in Brownsboro just past 9 am Friday, May 2, as a powerful storm front passed overhead. The ominous clouds culminated in a twister touchdown in Canton.

Canton police officials said the tornado hit in Canton, causing damage between 8am and 9am. Ben Wheeler escaped the worst of the storm, but did see some hail. Edom, Brownsboro, Chandler and Murchison saw nothing more than a short lived thunderstorm.

The National Weather Service stated the tornado was on the ground for about five minutes, leaving a 1.3 mile path about 75 yards wide. The twister had wind speeds of between 85 and 90 miles per hour.

A NWS spokesperson said it first hit the Old City Park, destroying a few trees, then lifted up and struck Highway 64, then jumped again and flipped a vehicle over on Highway 19. Several power poles were toppled during the storm.

No major injuries were reported, though several people were temporarily trapped in their overturned vehicles.

The tornado was classified as an EF-1.

By the end of the storm there had been around six or so vehicles turned over, two or three of which were RVs.

Bruce Morphis, a clerk at the Canton Post Office, said the twister actually hit Canton repeatedly.

"It lifted up and came back down several times," Morphis said. "The wind also took a few tents and canopies."

The storm came at the beginning of Canton's First Monday weekend, a large flea market which dominates the town's scenery on the weekend of the first Monday of each month.

Morphis said because of how early the tornado hit, the streets were not crowded with market visitors.