Ohio tornadoes: at least 3 dead and destroy buildings

Ohio was hit with a devastating series of tornadoes that left at least three people dead and numerous buildings destroyed. The powerful storms tore through several counties, leaving a path of destruction in their wake. Homes were reduced to rubble, trees were uprooted, and power lines were downed, leaving many without electricity. The community is reeling from the loss of life and the widespread damage caused by the tornadoes.

The strongest of the tornadoes is an EF3, with winds of more than 130 mph, that touched down in Auglaize County near Fryburg. The tornado continued on the ground through northern Logan County into communities near Indian Lake. Orchard Island, Lakeview and Russells Point saw the most extensive damage according to state emergency management officials. A more detailed report is expected in the next few days. EF3 tornadoes have winds of 136-165 mph.

Survey teams from the National Weather Service were still combing through the wreckage Friday and could find evidence of more tornadoes, or the tornadoes were even stronger.

“Nothing prepared me in regard to what we’d been hearing and (seeing) in the pictures to actually seeing the damage,” Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said. “There is a tremendous amount of damage here,” DeWine said after touring the Indian Lake community in Logan County on Friday.

The violent winds were so strong that they lifted and tossed debris high into the air, leaving a trail of destruction as it moved across the state. Three people died when a tornado tore through Logan County – one of five reported tornadoes in Ohio, according to Chief Deputy Joe Kopus with the sheriff's office. 

In total, the weather service recorded more than 670 reports of severe weather across 12 states Thursday, including 500 hail reports. At one point during the afternoon, the National Weather Service had 16 simultaneous tornado warnings in effect – the seventh most for any day in March since 1986, said Daryl Herzmann, a weather analyst with the Iowa Environmental Mesonet at Iowa State University.

The tornadoes were stirred up by powerful storms that had dropped baseball-sized hail across the Plains and Midwest regions as it moved east over several days this week.

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Sarah H

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