ROCKDALE, Tenn. -
The National Weather Service confirmed Wednesday a tornado hit near the Rutherford-Wilson county line, damaging several homes Tuesday afternoon.
According to the weather service's survey team, the EF-0 tornado had winds of 80 to 85 miles-per-hour touched down at the Lamar Hill access area by Percy Priest Lake.
The damage is primarily located in the 3700 block of North Lamar Road in the Rutherford County community of Rockdale, south of Couchville Pike and west of State Route 840.
NWS said the tornado was on the ground for 1.69 miles with a maximum width of 125 yards.
Officials from NWS told Nashville's News 2 one of the prime indicators used to determine if a tornado occurred is which way fallen trees are facing.
"We were out in the garage working on a car when we heard it," neighbor Cory Newman said. "I thought it was a stereo at first when I heard it coming."
Newman saw the storm tear part of a house's roof off.
"At first we thought it was the whole roof," he said. "Then we realized it was only the front porch."
Newman continued, "God protected us."
Rutherford County's emergency management agency was on the scene, along with the Almaville Volunteer Fire Department.
Numerous trees and power lines were down in the area.
The roof of one home was partially torn off, while an RV overturned on another property.
One resident told Nashville's News 2 the high wind burst lasted about 45 seconds.
"I knew it was supposed to rain today but who would have thought," said Jason Crouch, who lives nearby.
Crouch was asleep when the storm passed over his home. His wife woke him.
"She said tornado and I said in January a tornado," Crouch said. "I know it was supposed to rain today, but who would have thought?"
Emergency responders went door-to-door, to check on homeowners but had no immediate reports of injuries.
Crews from Middle Tennessee Electric were also on site, dealing with several downed power lines. Workers were able to restore power to the area before 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Send your storm damage photos and video to pix@wkrn.com.
