At about 2:30 p.m., the tornado, with a maximum reported width of a , struck west of the village of Roanoke, damaging much of the area and cutting power to the main town of Roanoke for three days. Based on the extreme damage, the tornado was classified as a violent F4 on the
Fujita scale by the
National Weather Service. The tornado started approximately north of
Metamora, located west of Roanoke, and lifted approximately southeast of Roanoke. The tornado moved roughly southeasterly for a distance of over about 25 minutes. Although about 140 people were inside the building when the tornado struck, there were no fatalities and only a few minor injuries. This was attributed to preparations made during the construction of the plant and
spotter training given to some of the workers. Although no tornado sirens were heard at the plant before the tornado struck, an alarm sounded by one of the spotters allowed all the workers to move to
storm shelters and ride out the storm. Large steel beams from the Parsons plant were blown approximately away, and many of the employees' cars tossed into nearby cornfields. Three neighboring farmsteads were completely swept away, with only debris remaining in the basements. Trees were debarked, and farm machinery was thrown and mangled. ==Aftermath & impact==