Tornadoes Kill Three in Ohio, Storm Surveys Planned

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(TNS) – Reports of damage and injuries have begun to come in after Thursday evening brought severe thunderstorms and multiple suspected tornadoes.

The Logan County Sheriff’s Office reported three fatalities have been confirmed as of Friday morning. Their identities have not been released at this time.

The sheriff’s office said that at 8:15 p.m. it received reports of funnel clouds and a possible tornado on the ground in the area of state Route 571 east of Union City, followed by reports of damage and injuries about 15 minutes later.

There have been two people so far taken by EMS to Wayne Healthcare with injuries that were not life-threatening and no fatalities reported, the sheriff’s office said.

Damage seems to follow a path from Union City to Bradford, according to the sheriff’s office, with multiple homes and structures reported damaged on Route 571, Cox Road, Fox Road and Horatio Harris Creek Road.

Fire and rescue agencies from multiple jurisdictions were dispatched to the area along with Darke County deputies and other first responders. Darke County Emergency Management, fire and rescue agencies and deputies was planning to assess the damage in the morning.

Some roads in the affected areas are closed and will be patrolled, with the sheriff’s office asking the public to stay out of the area for their own safety and the security of local residents.

The Miami County Sheriff’s Office said the county was damaged during the storms, but hadn’t received any reports of injuries as of Thursday night.

Trees were down and buildings were seriously damaged in Bradford near the Miami/Darke county border.

Jeff and Julie Slattery, who live on North Rangeline Road in Covington, were eating dinner and watching the news when they heard about storms north of them.

After they started hearing a loud rumblig, they decided to take shelter in the bathroom tub.

“After that all hell broke loose,” Jeff Slatter said. “…Things started flying apart. I’m shocked we’re still alive quite honestly.”

Logan County

Three people have died and multiple injuries have been reported after heavy storms moved through Thursday night, according to the Logan County Sheriff’s Office. The number of injuries were not clear.

First responders from multiple agencies responded to check the Santa Fe, Lakeview and Midway areas.

The Logan County Emergency Management Agency announced that a suspected tornado directly hit multiple structures in the Lakeview and Russells Point areas near Indian Lake, causing injuries and damage.

All major roads near Lakeview and Russells Point are closed, according to the sheriff’s office.

The Logan County EMA said that mutual aid was coming to the area, but asked that nobody self-deploy to Logan County unless directly asked by county officials.

Anyone who needs assistance should call the American Red Cross at 1-800-REDCROSS.

Rodney Frey said the storm sounded “like a locomotive” going through the area. He was heading to his bathroom to take shelter when he said things started to calm down.

“I said, ‘I think it missed us.’ Thank god it did,” he said.

However, his sister wasn’t so lucky. Her house was destroyed. Frey said he only lives about four blocks away and had issues tripping over debris when he came over to help.

Thousands across Logan County are without power following Thursday night storms. Those in the dark totaled 4,261 as of 1 a.m. Friday, according to the AES Ohio outage map.

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