Microburst packs damaging punch to Gate City on Sunday

Parts of downtown Gate City received considerable damage following strong storms on Sunday afternoon.

Meteorologist Anthony Moulton of the National Weather Service office in Morristown said their agency had received reports from local emergency officers along with photographic evidence to conclude a microburst had touched down with winds of nearly 60 miles per hour just after 4 p.m.

“Basically, it’s just a collapsing thunderstorm. They got unlucky because they were right under the strongest winds caused by the storm collapse,” Moulton said Monday in a telephone interview.

A large tree and other debris littered Jackson Street while winds sheered off the roof of the Kilgore law offices and a nearby Mexican restaurant, depositing it behind the structure on Water Street.

(PHOTOS: A. Rhoton / Special to SuperTalk 929)