MORGAN COUNTY, Tenn. — A tornado that the National Weather Service said was "large and extremely dangerous" left damage across Morgan and Scott counties during a wave of severe weather Tuesday afternoon.
A Tornado Warning was issued for Campbell, Scott and Claiborne counties around 5 p.m. and a tornado was confirmed to have touched down as reports initially came in. The National Weather Service has yet to formally confirm the strength of the storm, but crews are working to assess the damage.
A Tornado Watch was issued for all of East Tennessee but was canceled shortly after 12:30 a.m. on Wednesday.
Several businesses and buildings in Sunbright were destroyed or heavily damaged, including a chapel at Schubert's Funeral Home. The storm ripped off one side of the building. Plateau Electric Cooperative also said around 1,200 customers lost power in the Sunbright community as of around 11 p.m.
"Well, I just got a call from a friend of mine. He just said, 'You might want to get into town. Your funeral home's gone.'" Billy Glenn Kennedy said. "I just hate it. We just celebrated our 100th year anniversary. Hopefully, we'll rebuild and be back."
Kennedy said it looked like the building was a total loss. He said he still has another chapel in Wartburg.
"It was like a train coming... started ripping stuff off. It just happened so quick," one woman said. "I was on the phone praying with him. I was definitely scared."
Photos: Sunbright Tornado Damage (4/2/2024)
In downtown Sunbright, some buildings have suffered heavy damage. One of the empty buildings has a second floor stripped. There are also reports of a Tiger Mart and an empty "Old Dollar Exchange" that was hit.
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Despite the damage, Morgan County Executive Brian Langley said no one was hurt or killed in the storm. He said a younger girl did suffer some minor injuries, but said it was "nothing major."
"That's the main thing. Devastation on some of these buildings that have been here a long time, but buildings can be rebuilt. Lives can't be replaced," he said. "It's gonna take a while to clean a lot of this stuff up, but we are just so thankful there wasn't fatalities in this kind of thing because it hit hard."
Crews were quick to respond to survey damage and repair what they could. Utility crews could be seen working to repair numerous power poles that had been toppled as of 6:30 p.m. amid the destruction.
Langley said people have already reached out asking how they could help the people of Sunbright. With the damage still fresh -- he said he was thankful -- but said at the moment emergency crews need time to assess the damage and work to clear any dangerous hazards such as downed power lines first.
"The roads are closed. There are trees down and power lines down, " Wartburg Police Chief Michael Cox said. "If you do not have to be traveling, we ask people to stay off the roads."
A lone cross was still standing outside the Sunbright United Methodist Church near Schubert's Funeral Home covered by fallen power lines.
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The American Red Cross set up a shelter for people displaced by the tornado at Wartburg Central High School. About 50 families were at the shelter Tuesday night, according to the Red Cross.