Author of Be Ready for Anything and Bloom Where You’re Planted online course
Update: One fatality has been reported. An 81-year-old man named Melvin Delhanna died when his car was blown into his home in Celina, Ohio. The City of Dayton issued a boil water advisory for water customers in all of Dayton and Montgomery Counties. (11:41, May 28, 2019)
A line of tornadoes crossed Indiana and Ohio last night, so close together that one crossed through the path of another. This morning, 5 million are without power. Towns outside of Dayton, Ohio were the hardest hit. The damage is nothing short of catastrophic.
The AP reports:
The National Weather Service tweeted Monday night that a “large and dangerous tornado” hit near Trotwood, Ohio, 8 miles (12 kilometers) northwest of Dayton. Several apartment buildings were damaged or destroyed.
Just before midnight, not 40 minutes after that tornado cut through, the weather service tweeted that another one was traversing its path, churning up debris densely enough to be seen on radar…
…In Indiana, at least 75 homes were damaged in Pendleton and the nearby community of Huntsville, said Madison County Emergency Management spokesman Todd Harmeson. No serious injuries were reported in the area or other parts of the state.
Madison County authorities said roads in Pendleton, about 35 miles (56 kilometers) northeast of Indianapolis, are blocked with trees, downed power lines and utility poles. (source)
Many of the places where people took shelter were hit hard by the tornadoes and officials are going door to door looking for people who may be trapped in the rubble. (Here’s how to survive a tornado if you’re at home, in your car, or out and about.)
This tweet shows one of the massive tornadoes approaching in the distance.
https://twitter.com/tweetlivereport/status/1133242429363109888
Recovery efforts have already begun.
Utilities are out for the immediate future.
At least 5 million people are without power during the current heat wave and Dayton Power and Light said residents should expect a “multi-day restoration effort.” And because the power is out to the water plants and pumping stations, Dayton residents are urged to conserve water. (Here’s how to survive a hot-weather power outage.)
The Ohio Department of Transportation has dispatched snowplows to help remove rubble from Highway 75 and city streets according to spokesperson Matt Bruning.
Trying to clear the debris in the middle of the night is a difficult task, complicated by darkness and downed power lines, Bruning said.
“We’ll do a more thorough cleaning after we get lanes opened,” he told The Associated Press by text early Tuesday, noting that tow trucks would have to haul off damaged vehicles along the roadway, too. (source)
The damage
Here are some photos people took of the swath of destruction.
This massive tornado touched down in Dayton, Ohio (via Daily Mail)
Widespread damage from the outskirts of Dayton (via Daily Mail)
What appears to be a vehicle on Highway 75 (via Daily Mail)
The side of this apartment building was ripped off (via Daily Mail)
Currently, there are no reports of fatalities. The National Guard has been deployed and first responders are searching the rubble for survivors. In Beavercreek, just outside of Dayton, there are mandatory evacuation orders. 911 has been overwhelmed with calls for help.
No number has been released yet of people injured in the tornadoes. Homes, apartment complexes, businesses, and schools have been completely destroyed. (Here’s what it’s like after your home is hit by a tornado.)
Tenley Taghi was in tears as she filmed what was left of her family’s home. Taghi, who said there were no sirens before the tornado hit, told WDTN that a light pole fell through her home and injured her father, who was pulled out by firefighters. Taghi was in disbelief seeing what had happened to her home, saying repeatedly in her video, “Our house is gone. Oh my God.”
“I saw the clouds spin backwards, and the trees began to sway uncontrollably, and we took shelter,” she told WDTN. “I was standing on the porch that is no longer standing. We took shelter right as the storm hit.” (source)
People were in fear for their lives when the tornadoes hit.
Nathan Mann of Trotwood told WDTN that he took cover once he heard the sirens in his area, proceeding to his basement. He compared the scene Monday night to something “out of a movie.” He said he pretty much tied himself to a pole “and hoped to God that nothing would hurt me.” He texted his wife, thinking that he was going to die.
“It felt like someone picked my house up and set it back down,” he said. “When it was over, I couldn’t believe what I saw.” (source)
Locals are comparing the aftermath to a “war zone.”
Frightening video of aftermath of tornado in Dayton sent to us by a viewer. She says it’s off Troy Street. Many viewers have said the damage looks like a war zone… @ABC22FOX45 #daytontornado pic.twitter.com/X8fjz8Pk47
— Adam Aaro (@Adam247Now) May 28, 2019
Have you ever been in a place that suffered this kind of catastrophic damage?
This devastating event will chalk up millions of dollars in insurance claims. Have you ever been somewhere that suffered damage like this from a natural disaster? Please share your stories in the comments.
My sister lives outside Dayton. She is in the Beavercreek area. There have been only 3 injures reported so far. She said there is no power and the tire business is completely gone. Aldi’s is destroyed. Debris everywhere. This was a very big tornado. Amazing there were no fatalities. They are still trying to asses all of the damage. Praying for them
This is why people don’t listen Prepper’s
I live in the area affected and there was six tornado warnings ,There is some significant damage in some area’s and one death of an elderly man this morning. So here is the problem with what you published, there is not five million people in all the area’s hit nowhere close to that number.
So how about doing some research before you post these doom and gloom Bull crap stories, my God you kind of people make sound as if our little corner was completely destroyed and there are bodies laying every where.
This is exactly why Prepper’s are the laughing stock of America,and the reason you are ignored.
T Shannon
Give yourself a pat on the back for posting how disrespectful you are.
I will do just that and I will ask you how is pointing out facts disrespectful ? I live here and there is some significant damage but not as much as the news portrays. In the Dayton area it hit a couple of strip malls and a couple of urban blight neighborhoods. Nothing like what you see in Texas and Oklahoma.
So I will explain this for you ,the whole pop. of Ohio is 11,000.000 people these storms hit 4 counties. do you think there are 5,000,000 in four counties ? So as of this morning there are 51,000 people without power thus my reason for saying what I said.
Like I said before check facts before you print a story and again it’s Morons like you who hang on every word as if it’s gospel. Then you say why won’t people listen to preppers. Then people like you attack people like me who was right in the middle of it and know what happened.
One fatality reported. An 81 yr old gentleman was killed when a vehicle was thrown into his home in/near Celina OH.
Heartbreaking. I’ll update the article.
People suk: Ohio Weatherman Snaps at Viewers as Tornado Warning Interrupts ‘The Bachelorette’
https://www.thewrap.com/ohio-weatherman-snaps-at-viewers-as-tornado-warning-interrupts-the-bachelorette-video/
That is right.
People would rather watch The Bachelorette then be aware they just might be in DANGER!
I would say I wished a cat5 tornado came down on their house, and only their house, but that would not be nice.
We had a local incident, where two policemen were tragically killed. There was a lot of live coverage of the event and subsequent coverage, as well as their funerals televised live(on all 3 major networks locally). One ‘smart’ local small business owner complained on social media that the coverage cut into his watching golf of all things. How that business remains open is beyond me, because there were many who publicly stated they would no longer support his business (including myself–and its a shame, bcuz it’s the best local BBQ around–but as the daughter of a cop, this entire thing hit way too close to home. So I am done with the business). The local police and sheriff departments all frequented the business regularly before the doofus shot his mouth off, but I have not seen any LEO vehicles in their lot since.
I have also seen/heard complaints locally from such idiots during weather events. I think our local weather teams do a pretty good job. I have one favorite team, they are never alarmist (if they are concerned, I am too) and are by far the most accurate. The other two sometimes go a little over the top, but usually do a pretty good job.
You can always stream ‘your show’ later, after the emergency is over. But then again, what do I know–LOL
I’m off topic but are you still overseas with Selco?
https://www.ar15.com/forums/General/BREAKING-Serbian-Army-Being-Sent-to-Border-with-Kosovo-After-Kosovo-Police-Action-Turns-Into-Gunfigh/5-2224197/
Wow! Thanks for sending that. Nope, I’m back stateside now 🙂
Ok cool
Didn’t mean to hijack or anything but I don’t have social media to contact any other way
Not hijacking at all! I really appreciate it. 🙂
Power went out at work tother day and it was interesting.
As your friendly grocer, I was tasked with ushering customers to the front of the store, then to prep the store for power failure. As we do not have a gen we can only conserve what cooling is still in the systems, such as covering open freezers/coolers with tarps, and drawing the pull down insulation of the freezer display doors.
Then have to go upstairs to the compressors and set them to the off position as they draw so much current on startup, if all were set to the run position, they could melt a fuse miles away from the store. As one might guess, after power comes up and seems to be holding, one has to start the compressors one by one.
For the most part have never had anyone freak out inside the store when this has happened before or since, many people choose to wait it out with us in the darkness, some have even stood around quietly for the few hours it takes to get power again, some leave their carts full of food, understandably, and we then separate the cold from hot or other items and send the cold stuff someplace cold.
The fun part was when the power came back up, it can take 30 mins to get the registers booted again. and the boss came out and said I’ve locked the in door, you (meaning me) tell anyone who comes into the parking lot we’re closed for the next half hour or so. So there I was in the rain, waiting for each prospective customer to exit their vehicle so I dould tell them the store was closed for the next half hour. This is where the anger arose. I had people almost in tears, I had one guy yelling at me, and saying he had cash, to wich I replied we can’t make transactions with the system down, he had a child with him in the car and he floored it in the parking lot and out on the street. The vast majority of people will respond to such circumstances as rational beings, but there will be a few whose lives are ruined, apparently, by a slight and temporary inconvenience. This makes me wonder what things will be like in real shtf.