A tornado swept through Lewis and Mason counties Saturday afternoon, leveling homes and sending at least 20 people to the hospital.

A team visited the area on Monday and preliminarily rated the tornado as F2, with winds estimated at 113-157 mph. A flyover was scheduled for Tuesday.

"There's no doubt in my mind: it was definitely a tornado," said Danny Butler, 50, of Tollesboro. "It took houses and just leveled them. It leveled three of four right in a row, skipped over a couple and took down some barns, and then leveled a few more houses."

Herron Hill was among the hardest hit, and 20 people were taken to Meadowview Regional Medical Center in Maysville, Geneva Reed, house supervisor at the hospital, said nine of the injured were in stable condition and two other persons were still in serious condition. It was not immediately clear where any other victims were taken.

John Franks, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Wilmington, Ohio, said at least one tornado touched down in the area, moving from Mason County into Lewis County.

In Tollesboro, Kathy McClurg, 47, watched as two funnel clouds collided to form a larger tornado that destroyed a neighbor's house across the road from her home.

"We just watched it go in splinters, the house, the bar, the buildings, everything," she said. "It was loud and turned as pitch black as I've ever seen it. I was petrified.

"I said, 'Oh my God, it's coming right at us', " McClurg said. "I grabbed my husband's hand and my mother's and I just dragged them to the living room. I threw my couch over and threw my mother under it."

Of the eight homes in the immediate area, "four or five of them aren't there anymore; they're gone."

It looked like a bomb hit us," he said. "It's just unbelievable."

Franks said the areas were under tornado warnings at the time the damage was reported, starting at about 4:50 p.m.

He said much of the damage was in the Charters area, about 10 miles west of Vanceburg. Damage was also reported in the Cabin Creek and Poplar Flat communities, Franks said.

Tollesboro Fire Chief Gary Thomas said a family of four, the Polley family, were among the injured after their doublewide mobile home was destroyed. "It's exploded," he said, describing the trailer. "You can't even tell it was a home."

Thomas said it took a team of about 20 rescuers working with chainsaws and hour and 15 minutes to make their way a half-mile to the injured family.

Keith Browning, a bartender at he Maysville Country Club in mason County, said employees there saw a small funnel cloud touch down outside the club shortly before 5:00 p.m. Saturday.

It just tore up some trees and tore up the roof a little," Browning said. "It didn't affect us much."

Ray Bowman, a spokesman for the State Division of Emergency Management said at least 20 homes in the region were destroyed, another 20 sustained major damage. One house in Mason County was also destroyed, and another sustained moderate damage, Bowman said.

Meeting in regular session last week, the Vanceburg City Council joined the Lewis County Fiscal Court in a joint effort to apply for funding to build a new health department facility in the city at its current location.

Amy Kennedy from the Buffalo Trace Area Development District spoke for the members of the Lewis County Board of Health who attended the meeting and explained that two entities applying for a Community Development Block Grant could apply for $1 million. One applicant standing alone could only apply for half that amount, or $500,000. The fiscal court has already moved to jointly file for funding.

The current health department building will be razed and the department will move to temporary quarters during the reconstruction period.

Cooper also requested that the council deed a portion of Bruce Street Extension that is no longer in use to the Leo Moore and Shane Hall families. That would remove the city's obligation to maintain that part of the street.

City Attorney E.V. Holder asked for time to look into the legalities of that move and to confirm that the city actually owns that property. The action was held over until the next regular session.

John Teager, Lewis County Solid Waste Coordinator, has announced that his office and the Lewis County Fiscal Court are compiling a list of residents in Lewis County who wish to have junk cars and trucks removed from their property at no charge.

The amount of interest shown in the project will determine whether it goes forward. If not enough interest is evident, then it will be cancelled. If it is initiated, then all interested residents will be notified.