One or more tornadoes kill three, injure dozens in Ohio, Indiana
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[March 16, 2024]
By Brendan O'Brien
(Reuters) - First responders and clean-up crews fanned out across rural
Indiana and Ohio on Friday after one or more tornadoes ripped through
the area, killing three people and injuring dozens more as it leveled
homes and businesses.
Three deaths were reported in Logan County, Ohio, after at least one
tornado touched down and moved east at about 7:45 p.m. on Thursday,
Sheriff Randall Dodds said in a statement. Earlier reports of three
deaths in Indiana later proved to be false.
The twister was one of seven tornadoes in Indiana and Ohio reported to
the National Weather Service on Thursday night and early Friday. An
additional tornado was reported in northern Texas, and a twister may
have also caused damage in a northern Kentucky town.
On Friday, first responders were checking for victims in the Logan
County communities of Lakeview, Midway and Orchard Island, Dobbs said
during a news conference on Friday morning. The search was initially
hampered by downed powerlines, gas leaks and a mass of destruction.
"We are going to recheck those areas again. There are many places back
there that are collapsed," Dodds said, adding that teams were out
working on a grid system.
As daylight broke, aerial footage posted on social media revealed
widespread destruction in Lakeview, a community of 1,100 residents about
70 miles (113 kilometers) northwest of Columbus, Ohio. It showed mobile
homes ripped from their foundations, debris covering roadways and large
trees on their side.
In Winchester, a town of about 5,000 people in eastern Indiana, 38
people were injured, three critically, when an apparent tornado rolled
through on Thursday evening, the mayor said.
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Damage from tornadoes is revealed in the morning light after
tornadoes ripped through the Indian Lake area of Logan County, Ohio,
U.S., March 15, 2024. Doral Chenoweth/The Columbus Dispatch/USA
TODAY NETWORK via REUTERS
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"Nobody has passed away, so for as much destruction ... very lucky.
There are houses that are leveled," Mayor Bob McCoy said during a
news briefing, noting that 22 houses were destroyed and more than
100 badly damaged. "I praise the Lord for this one because this
could have been really bad."
The National Weather Service earlier said it could not confirm that
a tornado had touched down in Winchester, but that it was likely
judging by the damage and images taken by people on the ground.
McCoy said firefighters and volunteer crews were cleaning up and
assessing the damage on Friday morning as most of the town was
without power.
NBC News earlier reported three deaths in a trailer home park in
Winchester, citing state police as a source, but authorities later
said that there were no reported deaths in the town.
Several small towns near Winchester also suffered heavy damage from
apparent tornadoes.
A twister may have also touched down in Milton, an Ohio River town
in northern Kentucky, where local news reported that several homes
were damaged.
(Additional reporting by Brad Brooks in Longmont, Colorado,
Gnaneshwar Rajan, Rishabh Jaiswal and Shubham Kalia in Bengaluru;
Editing by Jane Merriman, Chizu Nomiyama and Bill Berkrot)
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