Owensboro Tornado Made for a Memorable Monday 12 Years Ago Today [VIDEO]

Has it really been 12 years since a massive F3 tornado swept through Owensboro destroying more than 100 homes and and damaging nearly 800 more? Time has certainly flown in the dozen years since the city was hit by that nasty storm.

Of course, in that time period we've been plagued with other disasters--including another tornado, in 2007, that wreaked plenty of havoc of its own. But that 2000 twister was the first direct hit that most of us remember Owensboro taking in our lifetimes. I certainly don't recall another similar occurrence. But I do recall being right here in this radio station when it happened. I remember looking out the window at objects flying by. I remember a car belonging to one of the WBKR account executives lifting off the ground a little. And I remember the deep ruts torn into all of our vehicles by nails when the roof tiles of the building flew off.

But, more than that, I remember driving through town and witnessing the kind of destruction I had never seen firsthand. This was the kind of stuff you saw on television and wondered what it would be like to find yourself in that position. This was the kind of catastrophe that made you wonder how or if we would recover and get back to normal. But it was also the kind of catastrophe that PROVED that we could. In fact, it was this storm, I think, that made the community and surrounding area a much more resilient lot. As I said, we've been hit with our fair (or unfair?) share of natural disasters since that time and have come through with flying colors. And I think it was the January 3, 2000 tornado that made us realize we just had to.  12 years. Wow. Where has the time gone?