Severe weather sweeps Midwest states, apparent tornadoes across Indiana, Ohio leave at least 6 dead
OHIO - At least six people are dead in Ohio after apparent tornadoes ravaged the Midwest during a severe weather outbreak on Thursday, leaving a trail of extensive damage from Indiana into the Buckeye State, officials said.
Washington Township police told WCMH in Columbus that at least six people were dead between the areas of Lakeview, Midway and Orchard Island after the violent storms, which also brought heavy property damage. Witness accounts of at least five tornadoes were reported in Northern Ohio, FOX Weather reported.
According to Sheri Timmers, a spokesperson for Logan County, a suspected tornado left multiple buildings in the Indian Lake area damaged and multiple residents are believed to have suffered various injuries.
"As far as we know, we have lots of injuries. We don’t know the extent of the injuries," Timmers said. "An RV park was impacted."
Nearly 20,000 electrical outages were reported across Ohio, according to PowerOutage.us.
In Huron County, emergency management officials warned of a "confirmed large and extremely dangerous tornado" near Plymouth.
As the suspected tornado ripped through Ohio, another suspected twister touched down about 75 miles to the west in Winchester, Indiana, a town of 4,700 people located nearly 70 miles northeast of Indianapolis.
The Indiana State Police said Friday that there are "many significant injuries."
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"There have been many, many significant injuries, but I don’t know the number. I don’t know where they are. I don’t know what those injuries are," Indiana State Police Superintendent Douglas Carter told a group of reporters just after midnight. "There’s a lot that we don’t know yet."
The storm damaged a Walmart store and a Taco Bell in Winchester, Randolph County Sheriff Art Moystner told FOX59/CBS4.
"I’m shaken; it’s overwhelming," Winchester Mayor Bob McCoy said in a statement to The AP. "I heard what sounded like a train and then I started hearing sirens. I’ve never heard that sound before; I don’t want to hear it again."
To the west of Winchester, in Delaware County, emergency management officials said about half of the structures in the small town of Selma were damaged by a possible tornado.
"We are relieved to report that only minor injuries have been reported thus far, with one individual transported to the hospital for treatment," the Delaware County Emergency Management Agency said in a news release.
Storms also damaged homes and trailers in Hanover and Lamb.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.