Possible Tornado Strikes Louisa, Kentucky; Damage and Injuries Reported at Walmart

July 4,2016
Five people were injured and a Louisa, Kentucky, Walmart suffered extensive wind damage Monday as a line of severe thunderstorms swept across the state.
Lawrence County Emergency Management Director Michael Woods told the Associated Press five people suffered minor injuries as "straight-line winds or possibly a tornado" damaged the roof of the Walmart. Woods said the store "is pretty much unusable now." The possible tornado also left cars overturned in the parking lot of the Walmart,  and destroyed a fireworks display.
Louisa Mayor Harold Slone told the Daily Independent the damage to the store was substantial but the injuries were minor. "There were a lot of people in there (the Walmart)," he said. "We were fortunate. There was damage throughout the store and you know it's always crowded in Walmart."
An employee of Hibbett Sports near the Walmart described the storm to Lex 18 News. "Everything got dark," said Caleb Fetherolf. Next, he said, came "a wall of rain." He also reported seeing shopping carts and trash cans blown over, and said even the shopping cart holders in the parking lot came out of the ground and were blown over on top of vehicles.

In southern West Virginia, a tornado moving eastward from the Hamlin area toward Charleston caused a brief scare Monday night, according to MetroNews. A tornado warning was announced shortly after 4 p.m. for about an hour for Lincoln, Boone, Putnam and Kanawha counties.
Appalachian Power Co. reported that several thousand customers without service after strong storms with high winds tore through West Virginia. The power company stated on its website that there were 4,367 residents without power, as of 6 p.m. Monday, although it was not clear how many of the outages were still due to the June 23 floods.
The cities of Barboursville, Ripley and Hurricane in West Virginia postponed their Independence Day fireworks displays because of the flash flood watch and severe thunderstorm watch in effect for multiple counties Monday night into Tuesday morning, according to WCSHTV.com.