CELINA — Emergency officials issued a warning after several people reported seeing a funnel cloud in parts of the northern Miami Valley Tuesday night.
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The Mercer County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) said in a social media post that people should get to their “safe spot right away” if they see a funnel cloud.
As previously reported, the National Weather Service issued a Tornado Warning for Mercer and Auglaize counties on Tuesday.
People throughout Mercer County shared what they spotted in the sky.
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“Funnel clouds are not tornadoes. A tornado is when the funnel touches the ground,” the Mercer County EMA said. “Funnels can spin up quickly to a tornado.”
They also encouraged people to “see something, say something,” so they can quickly get any warnings out to the area.
Linda Budde works at Ace Hardware in Celina.
When she left Tuesday night, she looked up and noticed the clouds looked strange.
Budde said she drove about five minutes to get home. When she pulled up, tornado sirens started going off.
She grabbed her husband, and they went to the basement.
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Budde spent about ten minutes downstairs before she learned the threat was over.
She added that after they went upstairs, it started pouring rain.
“I’m a little bit anxious about tomorrow, it’s supposed to be worse than it was today, and I have to close at work again. I said this time, I’m going to be putting stuff down in the basement, so I don’t have to rush to get important stuff down there if we need it,” Budde said.
Storm Center 7 says tornadoes, damaging winds, and large hail are all possible on Wednesday night.
News Center 7 will continue to follow this story.
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