By PATRICK ORSAGOS Associated Press, and staff
LAKEVIEW — Gov. Mike DeWine has declared a state of emergency in 11 counties impacted by last week’s severe weather, including Delaware, Logan, Licking and Union counties, and activated the Ohio National Guard to assist with recovery efforts in Logan County, where three people were killed when an EF3 twister struck the communities of Lakeview and Russells Point.
UPDATE 3/18/24 4:08 p.m.: New information from the National Weather Service indicates the tornado that struck Logan County packed winds of 140 to 155 mph and traveled a 31-mile path that began near Botkins in Auglaize County. In addition to the three fatalities, 27 injuries were reported. Weather Service investigators say it was not clear if this tornado combined with an EF2 tornado that touched down near Broadway, in Union County.
The emergency declaration orders severe state departments and agencies, including the Emergency Management Agency, Department of Health and the Department of Transportation, to provide services, equipment, supplies, and personnel to assist response and recovery efforts.
A team from the National Guard’s 200th REDHORSE Squadron was sent to Logan County Sunday morning to conduct an assessment of the support needed in the area around Indian Lake.
In addition to the tornado that struck the Indian Lake area, an EF2 tornado touched down in central Union County and an EF1 twister touched down in Delaware County and traveled through north-central Licking County.
Delaware County Emergency Management Agency assessment teams observed damage to at least 254 homes and businesses, 25 of them suffering major damage.
Fatalities all due to storm impact
Authorities say the three people killed in the Indian Lake tornadoes all died from storm-related injuries.
Seventy-year-old Darla Williams and 81-year-old Marilyn Snapp both were fatally injured in a mobile home park in Lakeview, while the third victim, 69-year-old Neal Longfellow, lived in nearby Orchard Island.
At least nine tornadoes and numerous severe thunderstorms struck central Ohio.
On the road back
Residents of the Logan County communities hardest hit by the storms are cleaning up, assessing damage and helping their neighbors.
Samantha Snipes, 33, said that when she first heard the tornado warning, she called her father, who lives seven minutes away in Lakeview, and told him to take cover. He said he was trying get into the closet in her childhood home and then the phone cut out, she told The Associated Press.
She and her husband attempted to drive down the main road to get to him but couldn’t and had 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 Snipes who Saturday was throwing away things and figuring out what could be saved. “And you see it on the news. But you never imagine it’s going to happen to you.”
Steve Wills, a pastor who owns a vacation home down the road on Orchard Island, said Saturday he was bringing a family crew to finish cleaning up and cover a hole in the roof.
“We’re saddened for the families that lost people. There’s three deaths in our community. You know, that breaks our heart,” Wills said. “But it could have been so much more, so much more. Yeah, so I still have faith.”
The community has been really helpful, Snipes said.
The school superintendent was dropping off food, clothes and diapers on Friday. The night of the tornado, neighbors on her dad’s street were going house to house shutting off the gas, she said.
“Everybody on this road is safe. You know neighbors helping neighbors is what it’s been,” Snipes said.
The National Weather Service confirmed that the twister that hit the Indian Lake area was one of several tornadoes that touched down in central and western Ohio.