3 dead as Ohio tornadoes prompt mass casualty response in Logan County

At least three people are dead as a result of a series of severe storms that ravaged Ohio on Thursday night, spawning a series of 20 tornado warnings across the state and knocking out power to thousands.For the second time in as many weeks, storms and likely tornadoes tore through Ohio.

Read More: Map tracks deadly tornadoes through Ohio

Authorities in Logan County are dealing with a mass casualty incident where at least three people died in tornado that struck a trailer park near Indian Lake, located about 70 miles northwest of Columbus. The National Weather Service confirmed as of 2 p.m. Friday that at least four tornadoes touched down across Ohio.

Logan County Sheriff Randy Dodds said the number of deaths could increase as rescue efforts continue.

"It's one hell of a mess up there," Dodds said. "It looks like a war zone."

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine: 'There's an awful lot of damage'

Dodds said there were areas where first responders could not search overnight because of debris and downed power lines that made it unsafe. He said there is anticipation that there may be more people found dead during searches that will continue Friday morning.

Dodds said there are areas where a single home may have remained untouched while everything around it has been leveled.

"The power of this thing is just amazing. It hopped around but when you look at it, it's just amazing."

Officials including Gov. DeWine, Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, Senate President Matt Huffman and others held a news conference at around 3:30 Friday to give an update on the recovery.

DeWine drove through the Indian Lake area before the press conference to talk with home owners and those impacted by the storms.

"There's an awful lot of damage," he said.

DeWine said the Indian Lake community will rebound from the tragedy.

"The Indian Lake community will come back. That's the message I got from everybody," DeWine said at Indian Lake High School.

State Rep. Jon Cross, R-Findlay, who represents part of the area, said lawmakers have to work with the governor to get the community back open.

"This is a community that relies on tourism," Cross said. "We have devastated businesses that lost everything. We need to get these businesses back open.

Ohio's emergency operations center activated Thursday night during the severe weather and continues to coordinate damage assessment and clean-up efforts with local, state and federal agencies.

“Fran and I are deeply saddened by those impacted by the tornadoes and severe storms,” DeWine said in a statement issued shortly before noon. “We share the grief of the families who lost loved ones, homes, and livelihoods.  Ohioans will come together as they always do with resilience and compassion as we support and rebuild our communities.”

Indian Lake residents assess Ohio tornado damage

Indian Lake resident Blaine Schmitt was working outside his home last night when his wife called him.

She warned him about the tornado and told him to get into the bathtub. He gathered his dog and friend, Greg McDougle, and hunkered down in the bathroom.

Over the next few minutes, the tornado swept through Schmitt's home, shredding the front wall and scattering debris in his yard.

"It sounded like a freight train literally went through the living room," Schmitt said.

Luckily, Schmitt and McDougle managed to get through the storm unscathed.

"I thank God that I'm alive and that my kids weren't here. It was very emotional when I first got here, and it's been emotional ever since then. But I pray every day and it paid off," Schmitt said.

McDougle used to live next door with his father. He sold the home two years ago, and it was being renovated when the storm hit. Now, all that remains is scattered debris, a single flattened wall, and the foundation.

"This is what's left. No one was living here, and thank God for that," McDougle said.

Logan County resident describes tornadoes: 'It's a noise you'll never forget'

As storms approached Logan County late Thursday, Loretta Kinney told her goddaughter Lucy there was nothing to be afraid of.

Kinney and her brother walked Lucy home and by the time they returned to their own house, Kinney said she realized just how wrong she was. The two headed down to the basement and waited out a storm and likely tornadoes that rolled across the Midwest and the Indian Lake region about 70 miles northwest of Columbus.

By the time they'd emerge, Kinney would come to find out that at least three people had died and homes and businesses around the county had been ripped apart.

"Just the noise. When they say you hear a train, it's a noise you'll never forget," Kinney said. "Then to come up and see it, it is so surreal. Even though I'm standing here and looking at everything it doesn't seem real."

Shelter opens for Indian Lake storm victims

The Logan County Emergency Management Agency said it's opened a shelter for victims of Thursday night's storm at the Church of God located at 1000 E Brown Ave.

The United Way of Logan County also established a relief fund where monetary donations can be made to assist residents who have been impacted by the storms.

Donations can be made online to the Indian Lake Tornado Relief Fund at www.uwlogan.org and 100% of donations will go to help community members recover in both the short and long-term from the storms.

Possible tornado strikes Lakeview, Indian Lake: 'People's homes are destroyed'

Columbus Dispatch Photographer Doral Chenoweth arrived in the area before midnight and reported finding extensive damage, including a destroyed trailer park with tractor trailers and RVs overturned and large trees uprooted. In Lakeview, the library and a government building were damaged.

"Every building in Lakeview and every building here has some form of damage," he said, from a spot near Lakeview. "People's homes are destroyed."

The Logan EMA confirmed for The Dispatch that a trailer park in the Indian Lake area just north of Lakeview was struck by a tornado or at least very high winds that have caused extensive damage. The community also reported having a shortage of ambulances.

An NWS spokesman said he couldn't confirm that a tornado struck the community but said there was "reports of a lot of damage there." The NWS will send investigators out Friday to confirm the tornadoes as it did last month when nine were confirmed across Ohio.

Thursday's Ohio storms were part of a larger system that pushed through the Midwest beginning in the afternoon and into the evening.

The Indiana State Police said there are “many significant injuries” after a tornado tore through the community of Winchester, AP reported.

“There have been many, many significant injuries, but I don’t know the number. I don’t know where they are. I don’t know what those injuries are,” Indiana State Police Superintendent Douglas Carter told reporters just before midnight Thursday. “There’s a lot that we don’t know yet.”

The National Weather Service in Wilmington and Cleveland issued 20 tornado warnings based on a review of social media posts. That does not include multiple thunderstorms and other alerts.

Indian Lake volunteers continue search for people impacted by storms

Emergency personnel conducted "grid searches" Friday morning in the impacted areas where the storm struck, the sheriff said.

Grid searches are methodical searches using a grid pattern to ensure that all areas can be checked without duplicating efforts and minimizing the risk of missing an area.

The sheriff said there are areas that first responders are able to access during the daylight that were not accessible Thursday night because of downed power lines and concerns about gas leaks. Those areas are now being searched. Crews are also researching areas that were searched Thursday night to ensure that no one who needed medical assistance was missed.

While there has been a "plethora" of volunteers who have arrived on the scene, Dodds said volunteers are more likely to be necessary as the searches conclude and the clean-up effort begins.

The Central Ohio Strike Team mobilized Friday morning to go to the Indian Lake area to help with the ongoing emergency response. The strike team, one of five regional teams across the state that are specially trained to respond when there are large-scale disasters, includes firefighters from every agency in Franklin County.

The members of the strike team receive special training on how to do search and rescue operations in the event of structure collapses, as well as how to do rescue operations in confined spaces and machinery extractions.

AEP transmission towers toppled in Delaware County

AEP Ohio confirmed that the storms toppled six transmission towers near Olentangy Berlin High School. As of 9:15 a.m. Friday, the number of customers without power had risen to more than 13,000.

Photos posted by the utility company on social media show the tower on its side. The tower fell into other power lines in the area.

AEP issued a statement Friday afternoon saying more than 30 power lines came down in the storm, as well as six transmission towers in Delaware County.

The utility company said the goal is to have power restored to as many customers as possible on Friday, however, some customers who get their power from the high-voltage transmission towers could face a potential multi-day outage. AEP said as more information is gathered throughout Friday afternoon, those affected customers will receive an automated phone call.

Specks and tatters of insulation lined sidewalks and the sides of houses at the Pine of Berlin Station, a subdivision near Berlin Middle School. Debris from inside houses — books, crayons, a broken pair of child’s glasses — were scattered in the grass.

“Someone else’s roof is in my kitchen,” said Katie Sprinkle, who weathered the storm with her husband and two kids, ages 9 and 11. The storm terrified her 9-year-old daughter.

“Pray loud, mom,” she said her daughter told her.

The kids wore bike helmets to protect themselves from falling debris, and her husband placed an overturned canoe over them. The family could hear windows breaking in the wind. It sounded like an explosion, Sprinkle said.

Delaware County road closures due to Thursday's storms

Several major traffic routes in Delaware County remained closed as of 7 a.m. Friday because of debris in the roadway. Ohio 315, closed between Hyatts Road and U.S. 23, is expected to remain closed at least through morning rush hour.

The Delaware County Sheriff's office is asking that people avoid the area where the aftermath of the storms are and avoid sightseeing. There are continued concerns about live wires and large trees in the roads.

In a post on Facebook Friday morning, the Delaware County Sheriff's office said crews have been working throughout the night to try and clear roadways but there are areas where debris continues to block roads.

The sheriff's office asked for additional travel time and patience from drivers, as well as willingness to take alternate routes.

The sheriff's office said that as of 5 a.m. Friday, a number of roads remained impassable. Those roads included:

• Portions of Berlin Station Road near Glenn Parkway, between Kingsbury and Braumiller, between Piatt and Dale Ford

• Portions of Bunty Station east of Liberty Road

• Africa Road north of Cheshire

• Portions of Rome Corners

• Portions of Walnut Road and Piatt Road

• Portions of Ohio 3

Tornado warnings from Thursday night's deadly tornadoes

Storms hit Indiana, Kentucky and northern, central and southern Ohio

At least three confirmed tornadoes touched down Thursday afternoon in southern Indiana and north-central Kentucky Thursday, leaving dozens of structures damaged or destroyed, The Louisville Courier-Journal reported.

Tornadoes were confirmed near Hanover and Marion in Indiana and near Milton in Kentucky. As for Ohio, officials have said it's too early to say just how widespread the storms were, or whether any confirmed tornadoes touched down.

Meteorologist Steve Harbenach of the National Weather Service in Wilmington said there have been several radar confirmations of possible tornadoes across Ohio, but added "we really have no idea right now how many tornadoes we had."

"There have been numerous areas where we've had reports of damage," he added. "It's going to take a while for us to sort through that. it's going to take multiple days for us to sort through this to see what happened."

An X user who was driving from Lima and passing through Logan took pictures of the extensive damage. In the post on X, he said authorities told him that he had missed a tornado "by about 2 minutes." He could not confirm if there were any casualties but said that a large section of U.S. Route 33 northwest of Marysville would remain closed as authorities assessed the damage.

Tornado watches remained in effect until midnight in dozens of Ohio counties, including Delaware, Fairfield, Fayette, Franklin, Hocking, Licking, Madison, Pickaway, Union, Ross, Butler, Clinton, Hamilton, Warren, Champaign, Clark, Drake, Greene, Logan, Miami, Montgomery, Preble and Shelby.

Severe thunderstorm warnings remained in effect for Franklin and Madison counties until 11 p.m. Thursday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio tornadoes cause mass casualty incident in Logan County; 3 dead