Churchill Downs Tornado Damages Stables, Frees Horses

Last night Louisville, Kentucky was the latest city to make tornado news, as a series of storms hit Kentucky Derby site Churchill Downs. Although the tornado damaged buildings and threw debris around ...
Churchill Downs Tornado Damages Stables, Frees Horses
Written by Josh Wolford
  • Last night Louisville, Kentucky was the latest city to make tornado news, as a series of storms hit Kentucky Derby site Churchill Downs.

    Although the tornado damaged buildings and threw debris around the track, nobody was reported injured as a result of the storm.

    “Several barns have been damaged, some substantially,” Spokesman John Asher told Reuters. “There’s a lot of debris, the power is out.”

    Officials had to evacuate about 150 horses and 100 stable workers who have homes situated on the grounds. All the races scheduled for today have been cancelled, but they expect to resume racing tomorrow.

    All in all, 9 barns were destroyed in the 110 mph winds accompanying the tornado.

    Tornadoes always make for compelling user content, as amateurs take out their cameras to document the impressive storms. While the YouTube videos for the Churchill Downs tornado are not as widespread or ultimately as impressive as user-videos from places like Sedalia or Joplin, the uploaded videos so far show both the formation of the funnel cloud and the damage to the barns.

    This video show the entire formation of the tornado as it swirls in the sky. Note that once the video hits about 1:57, you begin to see the tornado touch down and debris begin to fly. Whoever shot the video was pretty close to the tornado.

    This video shows the size of the tornado and it’s relation to both Churchill Downs and Louisville Cardinal Stadium.

    This last video show the damage close up to one of the barns –

    Luckily the tornado only did physical damage and didn’t hurt anyone. It’s been a crazy year already for tornadoes, with towns in the South and Midwest still trying to pick up the pieces. Although this tornado didn’t cause catastrophic devastation, it did hit one of our country’s historic landmarks. Plus, living in Kentucky, you rarely see something like this.

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