'A frightening experience': Home lifted off foundation, building in air, traffic light inside a store

Eric Thomas was asleep in his two-story Kaler Avenue home Wednesday afternoon when he awoke to what sounded like a freight train, and his home moving off of its foundation.

“It was a frightening experience, that is for sure,” said Thomas who works the night shift as a Crawford County Sheriff’s deputy.

The National Weather Service confirmed Thursday afternoon an EF1 tornado with peak winds of 110 mph went through Bucyrus on Wednesday.

The path of the twister was 3.48 miles with a maximum width of 100 yards.

According to Capt. Tom Walker of the Bucyrus Police Department, at about 4 p.m. on Wednesday, the city of Bucyrus was suddenly struck by a possible tornado.

“With no prior warning, the community lost power and was forced to seek shelter due to high winds, powerful rain and debris flying through the air,” said Capt. Tom Walker of the Bucyrus Police Department.

Thomas said he and his dog were not injured and received assistance quickly from the New Washington Police Department and his fellow deputies.

“Everyone has been so helpful, and I am very grateful for that,” Thomas said as he assessed the devastation of his house that is no longer livable on Thursday morning. “I could not open the doors and had to crawl out the front window onto the porch.”

'The building went up in the air,' heading toward his truck

Louie Katona had just pulled into the parking lot of his realty office across the street from Thomas’ house when he spotted a funnel cloud, he said.

“I pulled my truck up against our little building and the next thing I know, I saw the sky go black and it looked like a funnel cloud about 3-foot in diameter came through here. The building went up in the air and started coming over my truck,” Katona said.

He said at that point he just about lost his mind because he did not know what to do.

“I threw my truck in reverse while trying to think about how I was going to get out of it. I freaked out and tried to open the doors, but they wouldn't open because the truck was still running,” Katona said.

He thought for a second that the building was going to land on top of him and his truck.

“That is when it [funnel cloud] dropped the building back down and picked up my truck up and threw it across the street,” Katona said.

He said the tornado hit the house across the street and pulled a tree completely out of the ground.

“I was so scared it was going to come back after me because it was moving back and forth before it headed that way,” he said as he pointed north from his office toward West Charles Street.

Katona’s 80-year-old mother was inside the office and heard the roar.

“She remembered what she had been taught in kindergarten and was on the floor in the bathroom with her hands over her head,” Katona said.

Both Katona and his mother were unharmed and were busy assessing the damage to their property on Thursday.

Traffic light, roofing from down the street end up in Sandusky Avenue store

After the funnel cloud left Katona’s neck of the woods, it caused damage to many other area homes and businesses, including Pisanello’s, the Bucyrus Post Office, Computer Guru, Eyecare Optiques, Family Dollar, Old 30 BBQ and several more.

Rachel Myers was working at her shop, Printer Happier, on Sandusky Avenue when she heard her little boy, 5-year-old Callahan, fighting with the door.

“He was fighting to keep the door to the shop closed but the wind was too strong. The sky was black. I grabbed him and ran towards the back of the shop and that is when our front window blew in,” she said.

Myers said part of a traffic light ended up in her store, along with roofing from Ark Realty down the street.

“It was so scary, and it was not lost on me what could have happened if Callahan and I had not made it to the back of the store before it hit,” Myers said.

Friends rally to help with cleanup

Her husband, Bucyrus City Council member Kevin Myers, left his office down the street to immediately help his family.

“He called Knecht’s and they had a huge Dumpster here within 20 minutes,” Myers said. “The help from many people in the community is so wonderful.”

She said her husband’s fellow council members, Chris Mauritz, Aaron Sharrock and Zyan Hickman, along with an amazing man from Val Casting, were on site to help out very quickly.

“I was downtown when it happened and helping out was the right thing to do,” Sharrock said.

According to Walker, immediately after the passing of the storm, nearly all city employees, including members of the Bucyrus police and fire departments, were called in to assist residents.

“Thankfully, there were no injuries or fatalities reported, and the only impacts were property damage and loss of utilities and perishable goods," he said.

He said officers spoke with several witnesses who claimed to have observed the rotation and touchdown of a tornado.

“We were told the witnesses tracked a tornado from southwest section of town as it traveled in a northeastern path through Bucyrus. We were also told the tornado did not remain on the ground for prolonged periods but seemed to bounce over some houses and buildings,” Walker said.

He said there were no reports of injuries or fatalities.

This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Storm in Bucyrus leaves debris, harrowing stories in its path