COLUMBUS – A powerful storm with at least nine confirmed tornadoes tore roofs off factories, ripped away storefronts and destroyed homes across Indiana, Ohio and into Pennsylvania.
Six people were hurt, though none seriously, at a restaurant in the western Ohio city of Celina on Sunday when a tornado touched down. Gaping holes could be seen in the concrete walls and roof of a nearby factory that makes heavy equipment. The National Weather Service said Monday the tornado was an EF2.
The weather service said that at least six tornadoes hit northern and western Ohio, including one that began in Indiana and hopped along nearly 40 miles before hitting Celina. Several large livestock barns were flattened and neighbors pitched in to save nearly 400 cows at one farm in Mercer County.
An EF1 twister was confirmed in South Vienna, near the Clark-Madison county line, where 95 mph winds damaged buildings, tipped a trailer on its side and knocked down trees along Main Street near US 40.
The other tornadoes in Ohio touched down in Ashland, Crawford, Sandusky and Erie counties.
The storm also ripped apart a football stadium press box and tossed metal bleachers onto the field at a high school near Sandusky and winds ripped off the facade of a restaurant in Findlay and heavily damaged several mobile homes.