Tornadoes Deliver Heavy Damage To Western Maine

SOUTH PARIS (NEWS CENTER) -- The National Weather Service confirmed Saturday that a tornado moved through western Maine Friday evening.

Late Saturday evening, the National Weather Service revised its earlier estimates about the size and range of the tornado. At first, the Weather Service thought the EF-1 tornado only touched down in a six-mile area from Norway to South Paris. Now, the Weather Service has confirmed the tornado touched down near Dove Way in Norway, then travelled for about 16 miles through Paris, Buckfield and Sumner.

John Katula of East Sumner had just returned home from work on Friday night. He watched as the twister came crashing toward the farm house he shares with his girlfriend who was on the computer at the time.

"I ran in and grabbed her, and the front window just got sucked out. We tried to get into the basement, but the wind just sucked trees into the house," said Katula. "So we turned around, and I got the dog and Christine in the tub, and I just laid down on top of them. We were just laying there, and it was so loud, and then for like 20 seconds I couldn't breathe. It was like all the air had been sucked out of the house."

This is the sixth confirmed tornado in Maine in 2009. The state averages just two tornados a year.