WESTMORELAND — One year after a tornado ripped through Westmoreland, the community is still reeling, but looking toward the future.
“Everything’s kind of still in progress right now,” Mayor Waide Purvis said in an interview last week. “I believe, from the last report I got, there was one house that was destroyed that is completely rebuilt and back livable. We have multitudes of houses that are still in progress.”
According to the National Weather Service, the April 30, 2024, tornado was rated an EF-3 category storm, with peak wind gusts up to 140 miles per hour. The tornado had a 100 foot width and carved a two-and-a-half mile path through the north end of the city, destroying 22 homes and damaging 13 others, as well as the county public works facility and the Westmoreland pool. One person died, three others were injured.
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Staff photo by Lewis Marien
Staff photo by Lewis Marien
