Tornado’s Path Through New Castle County Comes Into Focus — Wilmington Townhomes, Airport Hangars Hit

A clearer picture is emerging of the tornado that tore through New Castle County on Thursday afternoon, with damage now reported in Wilmington, Elsmere, and New Castle — and no injuries anywhere along its path.

The National Weather Service confirmed the tornado Thursday and will have survey teams out Friday to pin down its exact path and strength. Preliminary information suggests it touched down in the Dover area around 3:50 p.m. and moved northeast through the county. “We were lucky that this was not a more significant tornado, and we were lucky that no one was injured in this case,” said NWS meteorologist Kevin Roth, who added there is no indication it was more than an EF0 or EF1.

At the Sonesta ES Suites on Chapman Road in Newark, a large hotel sign toppled onto two cars, shattering windows and scattering debris across the parking lot.

In Wilmington, 12 townhomes in the 100 block of South Dupont Road were damaged, with roof material, siding, gutters, and windows torn off and trees falling onto homes. One resident’s 2018 Honda HR-V was damaged, and he counted “maybe six or seven” trees down in the backyards of three homes.

In Elsmere, trees and power lines came down along Kirkwood Highway, a traffic light was blown down, and DelDOT cameras caught trees falling across the road at 4:09 p.m. In New Castle, crews found large trees down and roofs damaged along River Road and Old County Road, with at least one home struck by a fallen tree. At New Castle County Airport, hangar doors were blown off and three aircraft inside were damaged. A helicopter at Christiana Hospital in Stanton was also damaged.

Delmarva Power said about 18,000 customers lost power Thursday afternoon. Gov. Matt Meyer declared a state of emergency for Kent County after the earlier Dover storm.

Source: 6ABC — https://6abc.com/post/tornado-brings-down-hotel-sign-crushes-cars-newark-delaware/20037139/