Tornado cuts 14-mile path of destruction

The EF3 tornado that cut a 14-mile swath of destruction from rural Bridgeville to Ellendale had maximum winds of 140 miles per hour.

It also resulted in the death of 79-year-old Daniel Bawel, who was sitting in his living room in a century-old, two-story farmhouse on Tuckers Road. His wife, who was in the kitchen, received minor injuries.

According to the National Weather Service, the only other fatality from a tornado in Delaware occurred on July 21, 1983, during a storm in Hartly in Kent County.

At least 60 structures were damaged by the tornado.

According to the NWS, the tornado formed and touched down at 5:59 p.m. on Dublin Hill Road near Bridgeville. It ended 20 minutes later in Ellendale. The tornado, reaching a width of 700 yards, left behind dozens of downed utility poles, turned over irrigation rigs, destroyed hundreds of trees, caused damage to numerous homes and barns, and flattened at least four houses. The most serious damage to homes occurred along Tuckers and Fawn roads in rural Greenwood, where it reached its maximum width.

As the tornado moved eastward, it hit its peak wind speed of 140 mph when it destroyed three buildings at the Delaware Department of Transportation maintenance yard off Route 404 near Bridgeville.

It also caused extensive damage to several chicken houses on B&R Road before it crossed Route 113 and hit Ellendale.

The sounds of chain saws and wood chippers filled the air April 2 as recovery efforts got underway. Tree service and roofing companies were quick to mobilize. Dozens of volunteers are also helping families who were impacted by the storm. Groups like the Good Ole Boy Foundation were out early cutting away tree branches that had fallen on homes.

Joe Thomas, director of the Sussex County Emergency Operations Center, is asking residents who received damage to their properties to submit reports and photographs to http://bit.ly/sussexdamage. This will ensure emergency officials have as complete a picture as possible of the storm’s aftermath to use in any application for federal disaster assistance.