Long recovery ahead for some in the path of deadly tornadoes
LAKEVIEW, Ohio — Residents in a swath of the central U.S. hit by deadly tornadoes were cleaning up, assessing damage and helping neighbors on Saturday. But it will be a long recovery from the storms that ripped through parts of Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Arkansas.
Thursday night’s storms claimed three lives in the Indian Lake area of Ohio’s Logan County, one of the hardest-hit regions, and about 40 people were injured and dozens of homes damaged in one Indiana community. Tornadoes were also reported in Illinois and Missouri.
Logan County Sheriff Randall Dodds said he believes the number of fatalities could increase as first responders continue to search through the rubble. Cadaver dogs will be brought in to help find any residents that may have been left behind by the twisters, as heavy equipment lifts the rubble off demolished homes.
“I could best describe it as a bomb going off,” Sheriff Dodds said of the damage in the area. “Unbelievable damage.”
In Winchester, Ind., an EF3 tornado destroyed 22 homes and badly damaged 110 others. Officials said Friday that 38 people were injured from the twister, including three in critical condition.
“Every single one of these facilities are going to have to be checked, especially those that have completely collapsed,” Indiana State Police Superintendent Doug Carter said during a news conference Thursday night.
Samantha Snipes, 33, said that when she first heard the tornado warning, she called her father who lives seven minutes away and told him to take cover. He said he was trying to by getting into the closet in her childhood home and then the phone cut out, she told The Associated Press.
She and her husband tried to drive down the main road to get to him but couldn’t do so. They were able to get through the back way after the tornado passed.
“It looked like out of a movie, like ‘Twister’ ” she said. “My dad’s garage was leveled. The back of his house is gone. Like everything’s gone.”
They climbed over everything screaming for him. When they found him, he wasn’t injured and he told them to stop crying, she said.
Her father, Joe Baker, had always told his children to hide in the closet if there was ever a tornado.
“We grew up here. Like this is our childhood home,” said Ms. Snipes, who Saturday was throwing away things and figuring out what could be saved.
The community has been really helpful, Ms. Snipes said. The school superintendent was dropping off food, clothes and diapers on Friday, she said. The night of the tornado, neighbors on her dad’s street were going house to house shutting off the gas.
“Everybody on this road is safe. You know neighbors helping neighbors is what it’s been,” Ms. Snipes said.