A tornado with peak winds estimated at 95 mph struck part of Culpeper County, Virginia, leaving four people injured Sunday night, a county official told WTOP.
The rotating severe thunderstorm developed into an EF-1 tornado, traveling 4.8 miles and was 100 yards wide, according to the National Weather Service. It “touched down along Dunkard Church Road, a third of a mile west of Eggbornsville Road in rural, northwest Culpeper County,” 12 minutes after a tornado warning was issued at 9:15 p.m.
One adult and three minors suffered minor injures when the winds lifted and overturned a large shed they were sheltering in, according to Bill Ooten, director of Culpeper County’s emergency services. They were all transported to a hospital for bumps and bruises.
Another smaller shed nearby was also damaged during the tornado’s 8-minute reign, according to the National Weather Service.
The tornado passed “over several homes and a church, but no structural damage was noted,” the National Weather Service said.
It said two dozen trees were left snapped and uprooted in multiple directions along Settle School Road as the tornado traveled a stretch of that road between Tolivers Forest Lane and Spring Hollow Lane.
Ooten said National Weather Service staffers are expected to return to the scene Tuesday after examining debris on Monday.
The weather system that caused the tornado was behind high winds that prompted the National Weather Service to issue watches and warnings for the D.C. area Sunday night.
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