‘A roar you never heard before;’ Man thankful to be OK after severe storms moved through Miami Co.

COVINGTON — Severe storms and tornadoes moved through the Miami Valley Thursday night, leaving a path of damage behind, including in Miami County.

Our crew was in Miami County Thursday night after the storm passed through. We couldn’t get to the damage on Rangeline and Klinger roads that night because of roadblocks, but when we returned the next morning, the expansive damage was in full view.

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News Center 7′s John Bedell spoke to Ronnie Mahan, who walked him through his yard in Covington. It was hard for him to see what it looked like now.

“The siding on the back of the house is tore up. My other garage is tore up. My shed out there, I guess it’s over there in (the) trees – I don’t know, it’s gone,” Mahan said.

He was inside his home with his wife and grandson when Thursday night’s storms hit. As we showed you on News Center 7 at 5:00, he emotionally recounted watching as the storm moved toward Miami County.

“We was just sitting there and watching News Center 7 – give me a minute,” he said, taking a moment to gather himself. “It was going south of (State Route) 185. I said, ‘Oh hell, that don’t sound good.’”

Mahan doesn’t have a basement, so he took his family into the most interior room in their house, which was the bathroom.

“I sat there and I said, ‘Watch out, here it comes.’ And it was a roar that you never heard before. Stuff was bouncing off the windows,” he recounted, saying the road sounded like “hell” and lasted five to 10 seconds.

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After the roar, there was silence and the family got out of the bathroom.

“I finally looked out the back door. I looked over there and I said, ‘Something don’t look right over there by the pole barn,’” he said.

Mahan’s barn was destroyed.

He called Thursday night and “weird” night in his pocket of the Miami Valley, but he’s grateful he and his family were not hurt.

“Everything’s still here. We’re still alive. That’s all that matters,” he said.

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