Xenia tornado survivor in Huber Heights reminded of 1974 storm

HUBER HEIGHTS — Sunday night storms brought back scary memories for a Huber Heights woman who also survived the 1974 Xenia tornado.

Dixie Davis was at her Laurelview Drive home with her husband and 3-year-old granddaughter Sunday when she heard crashing outside.

“I was scared to death because I lived in Xenia during the Xenia tornado,” she said. “It was just extremely noisy, lots of rain, I heard things crashing. It was very reminiscent of the Xenia tornado.”

Davis said her granddaughter was sleeping below a window so she ran to grab her.

“I thought, oh my god I’ve got to get her, and I did,” Davis said. “I grabbed her up and took her into the hallway. By that time it was pretty much overwith.”

While Davis and her family weren’t injured, their property was damaged in the storm.

“Our privacy fence is pretty much just done,” she said. “[The storm] blew our grill from one end of the patio to the side of the house. Our lawn furniture was blown away. Our fire pit in the backyard, it lifted that metal. It was unbelievable.

“I actually had more damage here than I did in the Xenia tornado. Every time we start looking around we see more.”

Despite the damage, Davis said she’s just happy her family is OK.

“You can replace fences and things,” she said. “You can’t replace people.”

While multiple trees were down and houses in Huber Heights were damaged during storms, it is not clear if the National Weather Service will do a storm survey.