Tornadoes rip through Ohio and Indiana

BROOKVILLE, OHIO • A swarm of apparent tornadoes so tightly packed that one may have crossed the path carved by another tore across Indiana and Ohio overnight, smashing homes and blowing out windows. One person was killed and dozens were injured.

The storms were among 53 twisters that forecasters said may have touched down Monday across eight states stretching eastward from Idaho and Colorado.

The winds knocked homes off their foundations, toppled trees and hurled so much debris that it could be seen on radar and highway crews had to use snowplows to clear an Ohio interstate.

Some of the heaviest damage was reported just outside Dayton, Ohio.

“I just got down on all fours and covered my head with my hands,” said Francis Dutmers, who with his wife headed for the basement of their home in Vandalia, about 16 kilometres outside Dayton, when the storm hit with a “very loud roar” Monday night. The winds blew out windows around his house, filled rooms with debris and took down most of his trees.

In Celina, Ohio, 81-yearold Melvin Dale Hannah was killed when winds blew a parked car into his house, Mayor Jeffrey Hazel said Tuesday.

“There’s areas that truly look like a war zone,” Hazel said.

Storm reports posted online by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Storm Prediction Center showed that 14 suspected tornadoes touched down in Indiana, 11 in Colorado and nine in Ohio. Six suspected tornadoes were reported in Iowa, five in Nebraska, four in Illinois, three in Minnesota and one in Idaho.

Thunderstorms that spun off the Colorado tornadoes dropped hail as large as tennis balls, with pea-size hail reported in the Denver area.

A large tornado struck near Trotwood, Ohio, 12 kilometres from Dayton, and Mayor Mary McDonald reported “catastrophic damage” in the community of 24,500 people. Several apartment buildings were damaged or destroyed, including one complex where the entire roof was torn away, and at least three dozen people were treated at emergency rooms for cuts, bumps and bruises.

Just before midnight, about 40 minutes after that tornado cut through, the weather service tweeted that another one was crossing its path, churning up enough debris to be visible on radar.

THERE’S AREAS THAT TRULY LOOK LIKE A WAR ZONE.