Windham recovers from 110 mph tornado
WINDHAM, Ohio (WJW) – It took only a matter of minutes for severe weather to cause serious damage… tornadoes ripping apart homes and buildings, ripping down trees and power lines.
But the recovery is only just beginning.
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Despite the massive destruction, neighbors, families and businesses are coming together to help each other deal with the tragedy.
“The amount of damage it did in seconds, is crazy to me,” said tornado victim Jacob Olson.
Olson says he feels fortunate that he and his fiancée survived, when an EF-1 tornado knocked a giant tree into their home on Crestview Drive in Portage County’s Windham Township, Wednesday evening.
“If you look at the size of the stump on that tree over there, I mean to take a tree like that and slam it on the house, right now, I mean, it’s crazy,” he said.
Friday afternoon, a removal company used a heavy crane to take away large parts of the tree.
The massive clean-up happening around his entire neighborhood.
Courtesy of Cathy Priest Courtesy of Cathy Priest WJW photo Courtesy of Misty Colian 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
“They’re gonna come and board everything up, tarp everything, and then I guess they’ll do their evaluation as far as structure damage, stuff like that and they’re working with the insurance company to figure out where do we need to go from here,” Olson explained.
From the air, SkyFOX and DroneFOX shows the massive destruction caused when the tornado, with winds up to 110-miles an hour plowed through the area.
Homes that stood on nearby Parkman/Windham Road for decades, ripped apart, some barely standing.
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The unique part about the destruction in this area is that many of these homes belong to members of the same family and they’re all coming together to help each other cope.
“My aunt lives in the big farmhouse, my brother lives there on the corner, the small ranch on the corner and then up here is my cousin’s house,” said Olson’s cousin Carrie Gonsaldes.
Family, friends, and co-workers gathered in Jake’s yard to help clean-up what they could. It’s a scene evident throughout the entire neighborhood.
“It’s sad to see, but we’re one big family and we’ve all been here from start to finish and we’ll continue,” said Gonsaldes.
“My company that I work for, Duramax Marine, they sent food today for the family…got a lot of support, very thankful for that, makes things a little easier when you got a good support group, good friends, good family,” Olson said.
The Red Cross was also in the area Friday, helping tornado victim with food, housing and other necessities.
“I could sit here and explain it a thousand times, but unless you’re actually part of it, you’ll never fully understand,” said Olson.
The Windham Police Department is also warning affected residents to be on the lookout for possible scams.
They say any contractor that offers to do work for you is required to have a permit on file with the village of Windham.
Fortunately, beyond scrapes and scratches, no one was seriously hurt during the storm.
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