While there has been plenty of damage reported all through the City of Troy, Mayor Jason Reeves confirmed today that none of that damage led to any fatalities.

A large tornado touched down in Troy late Saturday, March 15, that ended up ripping part of the roof off of the Troy Recreation Center’s gymnasium, along with causing severe damage throughout the baseball fields at the Troy Sports Plex. The tornado proceeded to damage businesses along 231, which included heavy damage to the Flash Market gas station. The tornado then flipped over tractor trailer in the parking lot of WalMart before a mobile home was flipped upside down into the highway outside of Banks. Despite all of that, there were no fatal injuries. 

“There was a lot of damage about about a dozen injuries but nothing life threatening,” Reeves said. “We’re just very blessed and very fortunate for that.” 

Troy Police Chief Danny Barron said that two individuals were in the mobile home that was flipped out of Banks, but both survived with minor injuries.

“Our officers started getting calls as soon as the tornado came through,” Barron said. “We had that trailer that overturned near Banks and our officers came on scene and gave aid to the individuals in the trailer and both of them are going to be okay.” 

Troy Parks and Recreation Director Dan Smith was on hand at the Rec Center when the tornado hit. 

“We are very blessed and very thankful that it wasn’t worse than it was,” Smith flatly said. “Our staff went above and beyond when the threat approached. We immediately got everybody into the locker room and shower rooms and as we were getting the last individuals in was when the storm hit.

“We are just extremely blessed. We do have damage to the Rec Center and to the Sports Plex but that can be repaired and fixed.” 

Troy Police Chief Danny Barron echoed Smith and Reeves’ thoughts on the damage.

“We had a couple of injuries but nothing major. I think we were very blessed not to have any deaths,” Barron said. “We’re very fortunate for that.”

Reeves praised Smith, his employees at Parks and Recreation and all of the first responders and employees in the city that were hard at work last night.

“Starting with Dan Smith and his staff here, to keep everyone calm and safe when that happened is unbelievable,” Reeves emphasized. “He’s a rockstar and his people here did an incredible job. As soon as things began to clear, it was all on hands on deck. Everybody got out and went to work, from environmental services to our first responders, police, fire and our utility workers. Everyone was going in every direction trying to make an assessment in the middle of the night and we’re still doing that all through the county and city trying to follow the path to make sure that everybody’s okay.”

One area of focus for the city is a portion of Elm Street, which is currently closed to through traffic.

“We have a lot of people over there working,” said Reeves. “A tremendous amount of timber is on the ground, there’s a lot of very large trees out that way and we have people that can’t leave their houses because of all of the timber on the ground and everything that needs top e trimmed up and cleaned up.”

Smith also said that the Troy Rec Center and Sports Plex will be closed for the time being, for obvious reasons. 

“We’re just trying to assess everything right now and see what’s next,” Smith said. “The most important thing is everyone’s safety. We ask everyone to stay away from the ballpark and the Rec Center until we give the all clear.”

Pike County EMA Director Herb Reeves said that the National Weather Service would touch down in Troy next week to assess just how large the tornado that blew through Troy was. 

Smith and Jason Reeves said that more than 200 people were in the Troy Rec Center when the tornado hit, a record for the 19-year-old building. 

“It’s not necessarily designed as a storm shelter but we try to open it up for people that have no place to go or if they’re concerned about living in a mobile home or whatever,” said Jason Reeves. “We had over 200 people here, which is probably two or three times more than we’ve ever had before. 

“And for us to have that many at at a time when it happened, just the fact that they kept their cool and got everybody where they needed to be to be safe, is a testament to Dan and his Staff and of officers on hand and the great job they do and how sturdy that building is.”