Butler County’s plans for safety after last Friday’s pop-up tornado

MORGANTOWN, Ky.- After last Friday’s pop-up tornado, the city of Morgantown and Butler County plan to put more safety precautions in place for future storms.

According to the National Weather Service, the EF0 tornado touched down around 7:02 p.m. Friday and was on the ground for about one minute with winds reaching up to 85 miles per hour.

The storm caused severe damage to the roof of “Final Finish,” a local business.

The tornado didn’t show up on any radar and touched ground during Butler County High School’s graduation, thankfully no one was hurt during this time.

Morgantown residents have already been supplied with storm radios in the past and now the city is preparing to pass a bill that will make storm shelters more accessible to the community.

“It’s actually a bill for a homeowner to go in and put a storm shelter within their house as an individual.” Said Butler County Judge Executive Judge Tim Flener. “But part of the stipulation is it’s got to be big enough to help take care of a few other residents around there.” Judge Flener added. 

The bill to approve these individual storm shelters will go into full effect this July.