Two people died in a tornado that hit an Ohio mobile home park, and significant injuries and flattened buildings were reported in an Indiana city as severe weather battered several states, officials said.
Logan County, Ohio, Sheriff Randall Todd said two deaths were reported after a tornado touched down at Geiger Mobile Home Park in Lakeview, north of Dayton.
Speaking on NBC's “Today” show Friday, Todd said more injuries or deaths could be confirmed as the day progresses.
“It's a disaster — a disaster beyond belief. It's going to be even worse when daylight comes,” Dodds said.
Some storm-damaged homes require heavy lifting equipment, he said. He said some areas were searched twice, but deputies will comb the area again with dogs to make sure no one is trapped.
“I'm sure we're going to find some survivors through the night, and I'm looking forward to that,” he said.
In Winchester, Indiana, a town of about 4,800 near the Ohio border, homes were damaged and some buildings leveled when the tornado struck minutes before 8 p.m., officials said.
Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter said earlier reports from the Indiana State Police that three people had died were false, and that the agency was not aware of any deaths — but he said there was a “terrible, horrible event” in Winchester and others. Significant injuries.
“I heard that train noise,” Winchester Mayor Bob McCoy said of the storm.
“We will have to wait until the morning to see what the actual damage is,” he said. “We will continue to work through the night trying to find people.”
The National Weather Service said a tornado may have caused damage in Winchester, but a tornado has not been confirmed. Survey teams often confirm tornadoes after visiting scenes of damage.
In Selma, a town of about 750 people west of Winchester, about half of the buildings were damaged, emergency management officials said.
“The sky was completely black,” Selma resident Lisa Gulley said NBC affiliate WTHR of Indianapolis. She was filming the weather.
“I saw the clouds swirling and I saw it above my neighbor's house, two doors down — and then it dropped,” Gulley said. “We don't have time to go indoors.”
Gulley told WTHR that as soon as they arrived in the driveway of their home, one of their fence panels flew through a sliding glass door.
“The whole door blew off,” she said. “It took all the shingles off the back of my house.”
Despite the damage, the emergency management agency in Delaware County, where Selma is located, was relieved to report only one minor injury late Thursday.
Indiana State Police initially said there were three deaths in Winchester. State Police Superintendent Carter said he was glad the information had changed.
“The good news is we don't know at this point,” Carter said. “I'll tell you, coming here, based on the information I got, I thought the death toll would be more like 20 or 25 people.”
Ascension St. Vincent Hospital in Winchester said as of midnight, 39 patients had arrived from the storm.
The storms occurred on a day when hurricane watches were in effect from northeastern Texas to parts of Arkansas and Indiana and into Ohio. More than 13 million people were under a hurricane watch Thursday night. According to the weather service.
As of late Thursday, there were eight reports of tornadoes in Ohio, Indiana and Texas, the National Weather Service said. Storm Report WebsiteBut those are unconfirmed reports and sometimes more than one may indicate the same storm.
In Huron County, Ohio, emergency officials reported a tornado that crossed a highway half a mile wide, according to the weather service. Storm Reports website.
The Huron County Emergency Management Agency reported minimal damage and no injuries.
Arkansas State Police said downed power lines and roof damage were reported in the village of Hot Springs, a village of 15,000 people west of Little Rock.
