COLUMBIA, Miss. (WHLT) – The City of Columbia is in recovery mode after an EF-0 tornado touched down on Wednesday, February 12.

According to a preliminary report by the National Weather Service (NWS), the brief EF-0 tornado touched down on the east side of Columbia. Most of the damage is located along Highway 98 and the Lake View neighborhood. The storm swept rooms off homes and parts of buildings.

Employees at a business on Highway 98 said they only had seconds to react.

“I’ve heard people say it sounds like a train, and that’s absolutely what it sounded like, a train coming down the tracks. And, we got inside the door, I went to yelling for everybody to get in the hall and take cover, and next thing you know, the roof started coming off the building. So, but everybody survived. Everybody was okay,” said Josh Jones, with Beacon Supply.

Columbia Mayor Justin McKenzie said about 20 homes and six businesses were damaged.

NWS officials said the peak winds were estimated to be 85mph.