Tornadic Storms Roll Through Tyler And Cherokee County And Causes Damage
Tuesday morning started off pretty normal for Tyler and residents of Smith and Cherokee counties, until a few rogue storms fired up ahead of a line of advancing thunderstorms.
We were expecting some rain this morning, but nothing like what developed on the western side of the city this morning and in Cherokee County. Around 9:20 this morning I could hear the outdoor warning system's sirens blaring in south Tyler, but there was absolutely nothing happening outdoors. Shortly thereafter, I received an alert from The Weather Channel that a tornado warning had been issued for portions of Tyler and Smith County.
The National Weather Service did confirm that a tornado did touch down in Tyler around Spur 364 and CR 1125 and along Loop 323 and Highway 110 north. Hillary Whitten posted the following video on her Facebook page showing the tornado around the old Kelly-Springfield plant on Highway 31 and near Lindsey Park area along Spur 364.
The City Of Tyler Police Department also confirmed that the tornado did cause some damage at Lindsey Park where a soccer camp was underway with about thirty teenagers. Tyler Police reports that all students sheltered in place in the parks bathroom facilities and that no one was injured. The park experienced some damage with some downed trees and some aluminum bleachers were blown around.
There was another tornado warning being issued shortly thereafter for Cherokee County to the east of Rusk. This stormed lived on for over an hour with reports of the tornado descending from sky and then retreating back to the clouds. So far there have been no reports of injury or damage from this particular storm.
Thankfully after this line of thunderstorms moves through East Texas, we will be drying out for the next few days. After experiencing as much rain as we have over the last month, we're due for a drying out period.