PREBLE COUNTY — The National Weather Service (NWS) has confirmed the strength and path of a tornado that hit Preble County over the weekend.
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An EF-1 tornado was on the ground northwest of Eaton from 7:58 p.m. to 8:02 p.m. on Saturday.
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The NWS said the tornado had an estimated peak wind speed of 100 mph and traveled 0.9 miles.
The tornado primarily impacted areas near Surface Road.
The first known damage happened in the 1600 to 1700 block of Surface Road.
“There was some minor roof damage to well-built homes. One barn was destroyed, with cinder block wall collapse, and some sheet metal roofing material thrown into the field to the east,” the NWS said.
Roof on homes in the 1300 to 1400 blocks of Surface Road were also damaged.
Sections of the roofs here were entirely removed, which supports wind speed estimates of 100 mph.
Other homes had minor roof damage, and large trees in the area snapped.
The Preble County Emergency Management Agency provided drone images to the NWS, which showed significant corn field damage near Surface Road.
Some corn fields east of Surface Road were also damaged.
The tornado caused some of this, but the NWS said some suggest there was also a “wide swath of strong inflow in the opposite direction of the motion of the tornado.”
Lydia Michael said the tornado destroyed her Preble County home.
She showed News Center 7 where the ceiling caved in.
“We lost everything, my goodness. Except the back of the house so far. And the kitchen,” Michael said.
While the storm moved through, she sheltered in the bathtub with her daughter and granddaughter.
“What we did was cry our eyes out, but yes, we also prayed to God and God got us through, and here we are,” she said.
News Center 7 will continue following this story.
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