Winds so strong and loud, Rachel Cokeley thought a tornado was just outside her Ritchie County home Wednesday afternoon.

"It was really dark out and all of a sudden the wind was howling and smoke came out of the chimney. All of a sudden it sounded like a freight train and all the doors started rattling," says Cokeley.

The girls hid in the bathroom with their cat, their father Ed wasn't home when the storm hit, but he came home to find a mess in his back yard. He needed answers so he called in some help.

"I was in Ellenboro and the kids called thinking a tornado just came through, obviously I thought they were exaggerating but then when I got here and saw some of the damage, that's when I called the National Weather Service after we did some pre-liminary cleanup and told them we had a severe weather event," says Ed Cokeley, Homeowner.

Meteorologist Fred McMullen came out to survey the damage, he says it wasn't a tornado, but a downburst with winds over 100 miles per hour.

"The damage width was about three quarters of a mile and length of about 3 miles, but it wasn't a consistent 3 miles, it hopped from a series of three hills," says McMullen, Meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

The Cokeley's backyard is littered with trees split in half and a crumpled trampoline no longer usable, but they're just happy they're all safe.

"I'm glad that we're alright and nothing broke in the house," says Sarah Cokeley, witnessed downburst.

No one was hurt, not even their cat, but they're also very lucky. McMullen says their home is built well, so the downburst didn't do much damage, but cleaning up their back yard will be a different story.

McMullen says if your home or yard has been damaged you should always report it to the National Weather Service.