EF-1 tornado touches down in Nakina Sunday evening

COLUMBUS COUNTY (WWAY) — Multiple tornado warnings were issued for parts of Columbus County on Sunday night, with areas near Nakina being hit the hardest.

Dozens of trees were snapped, with other damage seen across the town as well.

Meteorologist Mark Willis says it’s important to know what to do if a tornado warning is ever issued for your area.

“Always have a way to receive warnings and know where to go when a tornado comes, which is typically the lowest floor of your structure,” Willis said. “In an interior room away from windows.”

When a tornado warning warning was issued for Columbus County just before 6:00 on Sunday evening, many people near Nakina took the advice of Willis. Although this was the first tornado warning in awhile for Columbus County, Willis feels the area has become more weather aware in recent months.

“It seems like people were taking it seriously,” Willis said. “They were heeding the advice from the warnings. They were listening to the media ahead of time and the National Weather Service ahead of time. We don’t think it’s a surprise anymore that these remnant tropical systems produce tornadoes. For the most part it seems like people were very prepared.”

The tornado caused a lot of damage to trees and a few buildings, but Willis says it could have been a lot worse had people not listened to the warnings.

“The people we’ve talked to are safe, and that’s the most important thing,” Willis continued. “There were no injuries that we know of to date. We hope that trend continues.”

Sunday’s tornadoes were sparked from the remnants of Hurricane Delta, which is something Willis says has been the case more than once this year.

“This is the third remnant tropical system that we’ve experienced that produced tornadoes in our area over the last few weeks, maybe a month or so,” Willis said. “It just reminds us that even though a storm moves on shore far away from an area, it doesn’t mean it’s over yet. We need to remain vigilant.”