5 tornadoes confirmed in State of Ohio
(WJW) – The National Weather Service will sent survey teams across Ohio Thursday following powerful storms Wednesday night.
Wednesday tornadoes confirmed by the National Weather Service:
EF-1 tornado in Windham, Portage County
EF-0 tornado in Southington and Champion Townships in Trumbull County
EF-1 tornado in Bucyrus, Crawford County
EF-1 tornado in Delaware County
EF-0 tornado in Champaign County
NWS told FOX 8 that one team is surveying in Bucyrus and the other is looking at Windham to Champion Township in Portage and Trumbull counties.
Windham storms
Residents in Windham, which is in the northeast corner of Portage County, realized relatively quickly that this wasn’t a typical spring storm.
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“All of a sudden I heard all this loud rumbling. And then next thing I know my house is shaking,” Lynnea St. John told us.
Her son, Ted St. John, who lives nearby, said the storm blew through very quickly.
Residents there told FOX 8 tornado sirens did not go off.
St. John said he knew by the looks of it that the storm was about to become more intense.
“When I saw the heavy rain and I saw the trees — the way they were moving — I said, ‘We’ve got to go downstairs.’ At that point, it was on us as we were going downstairs. It was loud and then it seemed to pass. It was like that,” he said, with a snap of his fingers.
That was about 7 p.m. on Wednesday.
Windam residents watched as a funnel cloud formed and dropped out of the sky.
They saw it bounce from neighborhood to neighborhood and across the turnpike in Portage County.
Multiple homes were damaged but no one was hurt, according to Portage County Sheriff Bruce Zuchowski.
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There were many trees and power lines down and still blocking roads as of Thursday morning.
Firefighters went home to home but did not find anyone trapped or injured.
Bucyrus storms
Before blowing through Portage County, the storms tore through Crawford County, hitting the city of Bucyrus.
Today the clean-up continues.
The Family Dollar in Bucyrus was blasted by Wednesday’s storm, knocking down their roof. Electricity was knocked out for residents across the city after power lines and poles were blown down.
Massive trees toppled over at the city’s golf club, where power crews scrambled to remove any live wires.
The hardest-hit area of the small town was downtown along Sandusky Avenue, where businesses were damaged. The owner of Print Happier said she and her 5-year-old son were in their store just after 4 p.m. when everything suddenly changed, and her son ran to the door.
Courtesy of Cathy Priest Courtesy of Cathy Priest WJW photo Courtesy: Brian Hites Courtesy of Misty Colian Courtesy of Misty Colian Courtesy of Misty Colian WJW photo WJW photo Courtesy of Zakary Takacs Courtesy of Zakary Takacs Courtesy of Zakary Takacs Courtesy of Zakary Takacs Credit: Diana Hickman Credit: Diana Hickman Courtesy of Leah Berry Taken near Richmond Farms in Lodi by Sam Deeb
“It turned black, it was so windy, and the door blew open,” said Rachel Striker-Myers. “He runs and was holding the door with all his might. I grab him and as I turn, this roof blew through the window. There was glass everywhere. The door saved our life. It was insane.”
Residents said after the immediate shock wore off, the clean-up started.
“The joys of living in a small town,” said resident Kevin Myers. “Everyone pitched in to help. We called and had the dumpster here within 20 minutes and people here just filling it up for us.”
No injuries were reported.
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