Thirteen years ago on April 2, 2006, a tornado ripped through Christian County leaving behind a path of destruction and numerous injuries. The National Weather Service reported over 200 homes were severely damaged or destroyed and 28 people were injured when the tornado touched down at the most dangerous time — after dark.
A storm survey team said the F3 tornado, with peak winds of 185 mph, touched down around 8:50 that Sunday night and began about three miles northeast of Gracey at the intersection between Gracey-Sinking Fork Road and Shurdan Creek Road and ended around 9:23 p.m. over 8.5 miles north of Elkton. The path length was 30 miles with an average path width of 500 yards.
The tornado reportedly began with an east-southeast movement and then curved slightly left around the Princeton Road and moved east northeast through central Christian County. The tornado passed less than four miles north of downtown Hopkinsville and then moved east into Todd County passing just north of Pilot Rock and just north of Allegre and Cedar Grove.
The National Weather Service reported the initial tornado dissipated about seven miles northeast of Hopkinsville around Antioch Road, but a second tornado developed six miles north-northeast of Hopkinsville along Greenville Raod or about a mile north of the first tornado. Downburst wind damage occurred both south and north of the two tornadoes resulting in a two-mile-wide swath of damage in the Greenville Road area.
The storm survey team found at least 243 homes were either severely damaged or totally destroyed. Of those, they reported 88 homes were destroyed in Christain County and numerous other homes and buildings had some structural damage. The tornados also downed, snapped, or uprooted hundreds of trees.
