CENTRE — The tornado that decimated portions of Cherokee and Calhoun counties last week has been upgraded to an EF-4 storm, a spokeswoman for the National Weather Service told The Post this morning. 

The tornado that wreaked havoc in Cherokee County began at 6:23 p.m. in southern Jefferson County and traveled to the northeast at an average speed of nearly 51 mph. The tornado left the state at 7:47 p.m. after traveling 72 miles. 

During its trip across the state the twister produced wind gusts estimated at up to 180 mph; it was originally categorized as an EF-2 on the Enhanced Fujita tornado scale. But the NWS upgraded that estimate to an EF-4 after a closer inspection of damage on Monday afternoon. At its widest, the tornado was estimated to be 1.25 miles across. 

According to Cherokee County Emergency Management Agency Director Beverly Daniel, between straight-line winds on the morning of Wednesday, April 27 and the tornado that passed through the Goshen Valley community later in the afternoon, 27 homes were destroyed and another 35 received heavy or moderate damage. 

So far, no storm-related deaths have been reported in either Cherokee or Calhoun counties. Statewide, the official death toll Monday was 236 people killed in the storms, according to the state Emergency Management Agency. Another 2,219 people were injured.  

Government analysts said there were 362 tornadoes nationwide during last week’s outbreak, including a record-setting 312 in one 24-hour period.  

An estimated 23 tornadoes ravaged parts of Alabama last Wednesday, including another EF-4 twister in northeast Alabama that killed 26 before moving into Tennessee. A third EF-4 category storm killed at least 65 and injured over a thousand in Tuscaloosa and Birmingham. 

A fourth EF-4 tornado killed at least 32 in DeKalb County. That storm was estimated to be on the ground for 33 miles as it traveled north-northeast near Fort Payne. The NWS estimated that storm to be a half-mile wide with winds up to 190 mph.