CALLICOON CENTER – A misty morning parted to a sunny one on Friday, but just the day before the skies turned dark as torrential rain poured down. 

Many people in Sullivan County received a tornado warning on their cell phones at around 11:39 a.m. last Thursday, at the same time around 3,000 people lost power. 

An image of a tornado circulated in people’s text messages but it turns out the image was AI (artificial intelligence) generated.

“We unfortunately get that quite a bit,” said Bryan Greenblatt, Meteorologist with the National Weather Service (NWS) - Binghamton. “People send artificial photos or old photos from a past event.”  

He and his associate, NWS - Binghamton Meteorologist Adam Gill, were in Sullivan County on Friday morning to assess the damage from the storm and determine if a tornado happened, which they later confirmed there was an EF0 tornado near Callicoon Center with winds estimated between 75-85 mph.

Tornadoes are rated on a scale from EF0 (lowest wind speed) to EF5 (winds greater than 200 mph).

A home on Bayer Road in Callicoon Center was damaged after a tree fell on the roof during the storm. Karen Moylan, who lives there with her family, said there was construction going on in the bathroom and when the tree fell down the loud boom startled her, and she fell through a hole in the bathroom floor. 

“My thighs were scraped and my back hurts, but no other injuries from that,” she said. “It was like the worst day ever yesterday.” 

Moylan was still waiting for the insurance company to come look at their house as the meteorologists as well as Sullivan County Chief Deputy Fire Coordinator Jack Halchak looked at the downed trees and took photos. 

Halchak noted that during the storm on Thursday there were “very few” emergency calls and no reported injuries.

According to a report from the NWS meteorologists the storm just before noon on Thursday moved along a warm front and separated from the rest of the line and began to rotate, with the tornado touching down in Callicoon Center.

It continued its path moving to J Young Road where there was a greater amount of damage observed, and then crossing Route 17 and going up Beaver Hill Road, before dissipating near the town of Lew Beach near the Sullivan County and Ulster County border.

According to the NWS, the tornado crossed paths with old tornado damage from April 22, 2023, when it touched down in Callicoon Center, causing damage to Apple Pond Farm and other properties.