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No injuries reported after tornado touches down in Corfu

By Howard B. Owens

Ritchie Kirkum submitted this photo, which he shot (he received as a SMS message) in East Pembroke.

UPDATE: Picture submitted by Ian Cromwell

A funnel cloud, or tornado touched down in Corfu just before 5 p.m. knocking down about 15 power polls and numerous trees.

There is some building damage, but no serious damage has been reported so far.

No injuries have been reported.

The tornado was tracked by the National Weather Service heading toward Oakfield and was expected to reach there at 5:20 p.m.

The tornado has apparently not touched down elsewhere in Genesee County by 5:35 p.m. and was moving into Orleans County (if it still exists).

There has been the smell of natural gas in the village and work crews are being dispatched to shut down utilities, with an ETA of 25 to 60 minutes.

Portions of routes 33 and 77 have been shut down.

Initial Report.

UPDATE 5:44 p.m.: Tornado warning has been cancelled.

UPDATE: Audio interviews with witnesses, unedited:

UPDATE: Audio interview with the Corfu Fire Chief.

UPDATE: photo submission by a reader who asked to remain anonymous

Heather Wooton submitted this photo from her backyard in Holley.

UPDATE: 10:13 p.m.  Finally back from the scene, had some dinner ... my battery died out in Corfu, so I'll be doing some more updates now.

Submitted by Beverly Hensel.

A reader submitted this photo. I've seen it on the cellphones of multiple people. It may be the most widely distributed cellphone picture of the twister. TV news crews at the scene were complaining that they couldn't use it because nobody knows who took it. We here at The Batavian are quite confident it hasn't been doctored in PhotoShop. That just seems highly unlikely, so no concern about sharing it with you.

Ian Cromwell

i dont think pizza pantry has been leveled but i know for sure the green house towards the fire dept has been hit hard and is spread out all over the road...

Jul 25, 2009, 5:53pm Permalink
Howard B. Owens

One of those interviews I just posted was with Louie Reeb, who was working inside Pizza Pantry when it hit. Pizza Pantry has now power, but is otherwise fine.

Jul 25, 2009, 6:39pm Permalink
Ritchie Kirkum Jr

Does anyone know if 33 is still closed through Corfu? My friend just bought a house right there and we are trying to find out if there was any damage to it.

Jul 25, 2009, 7:16pm Permalink
Tiffany Barber

Has anyone heard anything about a funnel cloud spotted in Batavia - a friend who lives over by Terry Hills said one went right by her house and they briefly mentioned it on Channel 10

Jul 25, 2009, 7:31pm Permalink
Brian Hillabush

I was at Darien Lake when the tornado hit, literally right down the road. It knocked out power and they kept everybody away from the rides.
But after about an hour, everything was up and running and I was hitting the water rides :)

Jul 25, 2009, 9:31pm Permalink
C D

Saturday is the only day I work 8am - 4pm at Darien Lake. Any other day, I would've been there until at least 9pm during the whole thing.

I kid you not, everything is going to be broken when I go in tomorrow.

In other news, I was sleeping through this whole thing. I got about four hours of sleep before I went in, so I've been dead to the world for the last five hours.

Jul 25, 2009, 9:54pm Permalink
Bea McManis

Posted by Chris Olin on July 25, 2009 - 9:54pm
Saturday is the only day I work 8am - 4pm at Darien Lake. Any other day, I would've been there until at least 9pm during the whole thing.

I kid you not, everything is going to be broken when I go in tomorrow.

Chris, do you know Bob-Cat? If so, tell him I said, "hi".

Jul 25, 2009, 10:21pm Permalink
C D

I saw you there. I called your name as you were getting on the Viper, but you didn't turn so I figured I was seeing someone that looked like you.

Jul 26, 2009, 12:26am Permalink
Brian Hillabush

That's funny. Call it louder or go with Hilly instead of Brian. We might go again later today after the storm so maybe I'll see you there. What do you do there.

Jul 26, 2009, 1:05pm Permalink
C D

The only days I'm not working there are Wednesday's and Thursday's. You'll usually find me over by the shooting range near the Viper entrance. My "office" is over there.

Jul 29, 2009, 6:00pm Permalink

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