Saturday evening I was home alone when Josh called me from his families house in North Carolina. He has his phone set on weather alert and kept getting tornado warnings for our area. We live in an old house so we don’t have central air and the box units are so loud I can’t hear practically anything outside. I turned off the units and immediately heard the sirens going off.
I turned on the TV and they were telling everyone in our area to take cover. Above is the map of where one of 6 Tornados hit in respect to me in Maumee. Millbury was hit with an F4 where homes were taken from the foundation and five lives lost. Lake high school was destroyed hours from the senior graduation. Josh and I drove by the destruction today where I took a few pictures as we drove by so you can see just how hard the area was hit. News feed and arial footage are here at WTOL. The Tornado was 7-miles long, 100 yards wide and moved northeast across the township, destroying 50 homes and damaging 50. The tornado hit when it was totally dark outside, which I hear is rare for our area. One survivor was driving and didn’t know if she was in front or behind the tornado. Her dad on the other end of the cell kept telling her to drive. She made a last minute decision not to stop at the firestation for shelter but keep going. She survived for that decision. Another woman made the other and did not. Her boyfriend and small child made it to the station but she was the last to run in and was swept up by the Tornado.
Full grown trees were shredded and power lines pulled down and mangled. A local farmer couldn’t plow his fields so volunteers quickly assembled teams to clean up the metal rubbage.
No longer a home. Only the foundation remains and a make shift flag pole. Five lives were taken and killed by the Tornado.
The Tornado crossed the street here in this neighborhood. There were eight houses that were completely demolished. The surrounding homes and neighborhoods were peppered with debris.
Just before graduation ceremonies Lake high school was destroyed. Fortunately diplomas were found safe on the first floor!
On a lighter note… the Tornado almost got Cabela’s and Bass Pro Shop! Parking lot footage is unbelievable, showing the tornado only 100 feet from Bass Pro Shop which is right down the road from us. I don’t know what Josh would do without his gaming stores. I’m sure he would be first to volunteer to pick up the debris and “dispose” of the “damaged” gear.