The National Weather Service confirmed Friday that Thursday evening's storm dealt Dover an EF-1 tornado with estimated peak winds of 105 mph, and a full damage survey remains underway. No injuries have been reported. [1]

The city had hours of darker guessing first. The tornado formed over Hartly around 5:53 p.m., about 14 miles west of Dover, and moved east at 30 miles per hour. Mayor Robin Christiansen declared a state of emergency at 6:20 p.m. Police posted that the city had "likely experienced a tornado" and begged residents off the roads. The hardest damage ran along the Division Street and Lockerman Street corridor and parts of North DuPont Highway. [2]

Then the texture: two women riding out the storm in a motel bathroom, praying aloud to two toddlers, one calling her mother to say she loved her. Hotels along the highway took significant damage; so did a Kraft Heinz facility and a Little League field that lost its scoreboard to a falling tree. [1] [2]

On X, damage footage from Dover circulated within minutes, labeled confirmed before anyone with a survey clipboard said so. This time the label held. Seven tornadoes touched down in the region on Thursday. Survey teams walked Dover's streets Friday as cleanup began, and the state of emergency did not survive the day. [3] Dover's was real.

-- MAYA CALLOWAY, New York