Local

Weather service confirms tornado in southern Ohio

The National Weather Service has confirmed that a tornado touched down Wednesday afternoon near this village in Clinton and Highland counties.

The EF-0 twister, which touched down at about 3:40 p.m., reached a maximum speed of 85 mph and cut a path of nearly four miles, weather service officials in Wilmington said Wednesday night.

There were no injuries or fatalities resulting from the tornado.

The Highland County sheriff said there was "funnel cloud" damage at Lynchburg-Clay High School, on State Route 134 South. The damage included a roof collapse and some cars damaged.

Our partner, WCPO-TV in Cincinnati, is reporting that the storm bent a light pole in half and brought down a light fixture and some ceiling tile inside the school. Sophomore Zach Blankenship posted photos of some of the damage to his Twitter page.

A summer basketball camp was in session in the gymnasium just after 4 p.m. The students were scared but kept their cool, said teacher and coach Matt Carsey, who was leading the camp.

Just after the storm and before the weather service confirmation of a tornado, Dr. Shane Shope, Lynchburg-Clay School District superintendent, told WCPO that a couple of people told him that maybe they saw a funnel cloud. "I'm not going to confirm that but we know we had some strong winds," he said.

Shope evaluated the damage to the school Wednesday evening and found it structurally safe. Students will return to class Thursday, he said.

As well on Thursday, weather service investigators are expected to be in the area to assess damage. Those officials said that until the survey is conducted, they will not know if the damage at the school is from the tornado or straight-line winds.

0
Comments on this article