MERCER COUNTY — One of our cities is still cleaning up from a strong storm that hit parts of the Miami Valley on Thursday.
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News Center 7’s Kylie Bridgeman talked to the Mayor of Celina about the impact.
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Mercer County residents have been no strangers to severe weather lately.
“We’re becoming more of, and I don’t want to refer to it as ‘tornado alley,’ but we’re getting a lot more significant winds,” Mayor of Celina, Jeffrey Hazel, said.
Hazel said Thursday’s storm hit his property.
“I lost about 2800 square feet of roof and eaves… but that’s not unlike the residential homeowner, like you can see across the street. We’ve got a couple of houses, my roof actually landed in those buildings,” Hazel said.
On June 12, straight-line winds ripped through Celina.
Just a few days later, funnel clouds appeared.
“Our guys will get you out if the house gets hit, but you have to find somewhere where you can go for safety. If you’re in a basement, make sure you’re not near something that can fall on you, but you have to have a plan,” Hazel said.
Even though it happened to him, he takes any damage in his city personally.
“We’ve got a fantastic community, obviously, there’s a lot of contractors that are willing to help, a lot of neighbors, friends, people are just willing to step up and give a hand. That’s what I see,” he said.
Hazel is urging everyone to take this weather seriously.
“Heed those warnings when you hear those sirens; that means it’s imminent. There’s one coming somewhere,” Hazel said.
The mayor said several businesses did lose power after last week’s storm, but it has since been restored.
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