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At
least two other tornadoes touched down near the city, including
one near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, just east of Dayton,
media reports said.
The latest storm comes after tornadoes and floods killed at
least six people in Oklahoma over the weekend, including two
people in El Reno, near the state capital, on Saturday.
The extent of injuries and damage in Ohio wasn't clear yet.
"We're right in the middle of it right now. It's a mess," said a
phone operator with the Office of Emergency Management in
Montgomery County.
Another Emergency Management official said that they were
working with the American Red Cross early on Tuesday to set up
at least four shelters in the area for any displaced residents.
Some media outlets reported that rescue workers were going
door-to-door in parts of Dayton. Police and sheriff's
departments were not immediately available for comment.
Twitter users posted images of debris flying in the air and
damaged mobile homes and cars.
Media images online showed snowplows from the Ohio Department of
Transportation clearing debris from U.S. Interstate 75 just
north of the city.
More than 75,000 homes and businesses were without power early
on Tuesday, according to the tracking site PowerOutage.US.
The National Weather Service said multiple tornadoes were
reported in the Dayton area between 11 p.m. Monday and 1 a.m.
Tuesday.
"We'll have to get survey crews on the ground in the morning to
confirm the severity of the storms, but yes, there is at least
one tornado touch-down in the city," said Zack Taylor, a
meteorologist with the NWS Weather Prediction Center in College
Park, Maryland.
"The storm system is weakening as it pushes into West Virginia
and Virginia, but along with the winds, it has dropped about two
or three inches of rain in just two hours," he said.
Seven people were reported injured in the storm in Pendleton,
Indiana, on Monday, about 100 miles west of Dayton, according to
media reports, including CNN. More damage was reported in
Celina, Ohio, about 78 miles north of Dayton.
Flooded areas of Arkansas and Oklahoma were bracing for more
rain that will feed the already swollen Arkansas River,
forecasters said on Monday. Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri have
all activated National Guard units to respond to the storms.
Early on Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted his
support for Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt, a Republican, and for
those who suffered from storm damage in Oklahoma. Trump promised
support from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
"Told him that @fema and the federal government are fully behind
him and the great people of Oklahoma," Trump said on Twitter.
Millions of Americans were under flood warnings on the Memorial
Day holiday. Deluges hit Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Illinois.
In Tulsa, officials were monitoring the Arkansas River after the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers raised the flow at the upriver
Keystone Dam by 65% since last week to 275,000 cubic feet per
second. The heavier flow is testing two aging levees in Tulsa,
the city said.
In Missouri, tornadoes and severe storms killed three people and
destroyed or damaged hundreds of homes last week.
(Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta, additional reporting by
Daniel Trotta and Peter Szekely in New York; editing by Larry
King)
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