MARION – The April 2 storm in the Lake of Egypt area has been preliminarily categorized as an EF-2 tornado by the National Weather Service. The nearby Stonefort storm is tentatively listed as an EF-1 tornado. That’s according to a press release issued Friday by the Williamson County Emergency Management Agency.

“Weather service personnel visited the damage sites on Thursday,” said Williamson County Emergency Management Agency Director Brian Burgess. “The storm designations are preliminary while the weather service continues to review the data.”

The weather service office in Paducah reports more than 70 miles of tornado tracks early Tuesday morning in Southern Illinois and Southwestern Indiana. The Lake of Egypt tornado’s path was 6.7 miles long, while the Stonefort twister tracked 7.6 miles. Wind speeds were estimated as high as 130 miles per hour.

The EF scale, formally the Enhanced Fujita Scale, categorizes tornadoes from EF-0 to EF-5, depending on their wind speed.

Several buildings were damaged and numerous trees and power lines were downed in Williamson County in the early Tuesday morning event.

“Fortunately, there were no injuries in these storms,” said Burress. “But the damage underscores the importance of having a weather radio and weather alert text messaging on your phone”

To sign up for text messaging, visit https://williamsoncountyema-il.gov/