OWENSBORO — City officials have invited residents to participate in three events that will mark the one-year anniversary of a destructive tornado.

        The twister that struck on Jan. 3, 2000, caused $70 million in damage, most of it in Daviess County, but caused no loss of life. Warning sirens went off in Ow ensboro and Daviess County 20 minutes before the tornado struck at 4:10 p.m. CST, and that warning is credited by many for saving lives.

Overturned cars and demolished homes marked the path of a tornado that tore through Daviess County one year ago. (Michael E. Keating photo) | ZOOM |

        City officials and representatives of the Community Foundation of Owensboro-Daviess County will gather at 10 a.m. CST today at Moreland Park at the future site of the Kids' Play Park to commemorate the tornado and the community's recovery from it. The Community Foundation has formed a collaboration to create the Kids' Play Park, with construction scheduled to begin in early spring.

        At 1:30 p.m. in the Daviess Fiscal Court courtroom on the second floor of the Daviess County Courthouse, representatives of the National Weather Service in Paducah will recognize Daviess County as a “StormReady” community. Daviess County is the first county to achieve this accreditation in the four-state region covered by the National Weather Service in Paducah. “StormReady” is a national program designed to reduce the number of storm-related injuries and fatalities by encouraging counties to attain the highest possible level of hazardous weather operations.

        The Apollo Area Alliance is asking residents affected by the tornado to remember the event by leaving their porch lights today. Bob Rowan, chairman of the group, said he hopes residents will unite in the quiet observance of the anniversary.

        The neighborhoods in the vicinity of Apollo High School were hardest hit by the twister, and some houses have not been rebuilt.

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