OWSLEY COUNTY, Ky. (WYMT) – Storms Thursday morning damaged the home of one single mother.

Casey Burkhart said she was inside her home Thursday morning when she heard the tornado warning sound. Within minutes, the storm was upon her.

”It literally, within two or three minutes, I could hear what sounded like a train,” Burkhart recalled. ”It was really loud… before I could even think or do anything, it was just already done and over with. It came very fast and went just as fast.”

Burkhart said the moments inside her house were the scariest of her life. She described the terrifying moment the roof caved in around her.

”I was on my knees crawling because the roof came down,” she said. ”It’s actually dented on the roof where my back and head hit. It was bad. It kind of dribbled me like a basketball.”

While the loss of her home is overwhelming, Burkhart said she is choosing to focus on what truly matters.

”Material things can be replaced, you know. Lives can’t,” she said.

Burkhart said thankfully her children were at school when the worst of the storm hit. She also finds comfort in knowing her parents, who live next door, are there to support her.

Emergency crews and the National Weather Service of Jackson (NWS) are currently assessing the damage in the region, working to determine whether a tornado officially touched down. Owsley County’s Deputy Emergency Manager David Stamper stressed the importance of having a way to receive weather alerts, especially at night.

”Every home should have a NOAA weather radio,” Stamper said. ”That way, if the weather service issues an alarm, it will go off just like a smoke detector would.”*

NWS has not yet confirmed a tornado, but officials said preliminary damage assessments suggest one likely did touch down. Officials urge residents to stay weather aware and have a plan in place for severe weather.

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