‘Houses can be repaired;’ Clark County residents thankful for their safety after tornadoes

Tornadoes and severe storms moved through the Miami Valley early Wednesday morning, leaving a trail of damage behind.

News Center 7 viewers told John Bedell that they were tuned in as the storms rolled in Wednesday morning.

>> PHOTOS: Storm damage reported across the Miami Valley

“Britley (Ritz) was doing the live work and Nick (Dunn) was pulling up things and showing on the computer and showing on the live screen,” Ted Williams, of Clark County, said.

One of the things our Storm Center 7 team talked about was the NWS confirming a tornado in Clark County as the storms were happening. That happened while News Center 7′s John Bedell joined the NWS as they surveyed the damage.

“Based off of radar alone, we actually were able to identify that yes, indeed, we could confirm a tornado just based off a debris signature,” Logan Clark, NWS Meteorologist, said.

>> RELATED: Tornado rips roof off of home with Springfield family inside

As reported on News Center 7 at 5:00, Bedel spoke with Clark and another NWS meteorologist on Wednesday. They said there is no doubt tornadic winds caused damage in Clark County. They also said the track of the tornado could have been as long as at least 10 miles.

“And the tornado may not have been along that track for the entire time. Like I said, with this type of storm mode, often we’ll see it drop down, do its thing for a little bit, lift back up, kind of recycle, and then drop back down again at a later time,” Clark said.

The storm lifted the roof off of Williams’ father-in-law’s house. He has a group of friends from school and church show up to help clean the property.

>> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: NWS confirms EF-2 tornado touched down in Clark County

“It’s a terrible thing, but it’s been a blessing to have so much help,” he said.

The storm also destroyed several buildings on the property where Bonnie Lynn’s sister lives. Her mom, sister, two other family members, and a friend were in the house when the storm hit.

“The silo is bent, the top of it’s gone. The front of the porch had a front enclosed porch here – it’s gone. And then all of these trees are down, so it’s just been very tough,” Lynn said.

Thankfully, no one from Williams’ or Lynn’s families was hurt and they’re grateful for that.

“Everybody is doing well and thank God for it,” Williams said. “And (I’m) just happy that we’re all safe. Things can be replaced, houses can be repaired.”

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