Reported tornado causes damage in Great Valley
This drone camera image contributed by Jim Curtis of Great Valley shows damage by a reported tornado Monday evening at the intersection of Sugartown Road and Farm Market Road.
GREAT VALLEY — Another wave of severe storms passed through the area Monday evening, with a reported tornado causing significant damage to homes and other structures in the town of Great Valley and dumping more rain on areas already saturated due to storms over the weekend.
The National Weather Service issued a tornado warning at 5:36 p.m., indicating that radar had detected cloud rotation near Ashford, and warning residents of Franklinville, Great Valley, Ischua, Lyndon, Humphrey, Ellicottville and Machias to seek shelter. That warning expired at 6 p.m.
Emergency scanner communications indicated that first responders were dealing with multiple reports of flooded roads and downed trees and power lines Monday evening, and dispatchers for both Cattaraugus and Allegany counties stated that crews were very busy dealing with the storm’s aftermath.
“Everything we’re working right now is still an active incident,” said a Cattaraugus County emergency dispatcher at 7 p.m. “There’s pretty significant damage in the town of Great Valley.”
Another drone camera image from Jim Curtis shows damage by a reported tornado in the Sugartown area of Great Valley Monday evening.
Drone camera images captured by Jim Curtis of Great Valley in an area near the intersection of Sugartown Road and Farm Market Road showed that a roof appeared to have been torn off one home, while outbuildings were shattered. In another image, debris from a structure is strewn like matchsticks while a woodland on an adjacent hillside appears to have been torn apart.
Powerlines were also down throughout the area.
Several emergency vehicles can be seen along the roads nearby; there was no report of injuries as of Monday night.
The NWS also issued another severe thunderstorm warning for Chautauqua, Cattaraugus and Allegany counties until 10 p.m., cautioning that the area was likely to see more drenching thunderstorms continuing the heavy rain threat through the overnight hours.
In addition, a flash flood warning was issued Monday night and set to expire at 10:45 p.m. The NWS stated that more than 2.5 inches of rain had already fallen in some areas, and another 1-2 inches were possible.
The NWS already had a flood watch in effect through Tuesday in Cattaraugus and Allegany counties, advising that high rainfall rates can create hazardous conditions on roadways. Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams and other low-lying and flood-prone locations. Continue monitoring updates to the forecast by visiting weather.gov, then search for your zip code.
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