Storm-weary Mayfield, Kentucky sees damage from another round of severe storms

MAYFIELD, Ky. – A town in Western Kentucky devastated by a massive EF-4 tornado in December saw more damaging storms on Wednesday that forced some into shelters to ride out the potentially tornadic storms.

Areas around Mayfield, Kentucky, were put under a Tornado Warning by the National Weather Service around 4:30 p.m. CDT because of rotation detected in a storm cell moving through the town.

Several trees, power lines and a handful of homes sustained damage during Wednesday's severe storm.

(FOX Weather)

The severe storm is reported to have knocked over trees, downed power lines and damaged around a handful of homes that were spared during the previous outbreak.

Graves County Emergency Management Director Tracey Warner said the area was ready for this round of storms, despite debris still lingering from December’s tornado and many storm victims living in temporary housing.

"We went ahead and used our elementary schools in the county and city as temporary shelters for people to go for a safe place," Warner said. "We do have a lot of travel trailers in the city and the county now, so we wanted to make sure that those people have a place to go."

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Officials estimated over 200 people took advantage of the shelters before the storms.

"A lot of people are taking the weather more seriously now than what they normally would have. It is still very fresh on our minds," Warner said.

Damage assessments from the most recent storm are continuing, and it’ll be up to the National Weather Service to determine if a tornado moved through the region.

Warner said officials are looking into the permanent establishment of shelters or safe rooms because of the area’s experiences with severe weather, but it will likely be some time before the facilities are available.