An EF-1 tornado was confirmed in the Hickory Woods Campground in Brookville in Franklin County, Indiana. Crews continued to conduct the storm survey throughout Franklin County and into Butler County in Ohio.
A second tornado had been confirmed in Auglaize and Mercer counties as of 1 p.m. Wednesday. It’s not clear whether the damage there is also part of the storm that knocked down power lines and trees in Darke County, including in Greenville.
>> PHOTOS: Damage after severe thunderstorms, possible tornadoes move through Butler County
The NWS also is conducting a storm survey in Warren County.
Jennifer Vollmer’s family farm in the 4400 block of Stillwell Beckett Road in Reily Twp. sustained damage around 9 p.m. Tuesday when a suspected tornado went through the Butler County community.
“Things started getting a little dicey weather-wise,” Vollmer said. “It changed pretty rapidly, conditions did ... and we sought shelter inside. There was the loud noise like everyone talks about. That’s what we heard.”
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
The family took cover in a stairwell, and the storm “lasted about 30 seconds” before things cleared.
“When we got out, there was devastation all over,” Vollmer said. “Our grain bins in the roadway, barn doors missing, semis flipped over ... just a lot of damage to the farm.”
The house, however, was virtually untouched.
Vollmer said she actually felt grateful because her family and the house were fine.
She took comfort in the help of friends and neighbors who came to clean up and get them back on their feet again.
“The way the community comes together after something like this is amazing,” Vollmer said. “Reily Twp. is a very special place. My family has been here almost a hundred years.”
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
Daylight revealed more damage in the township. A house on Bunker Hill Woods Road was nearly destroyed by the storm.
Multiple weather alerts were issued in the region Tuesday, including at least a dozen tornado warnings as well as multiple severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings.
Damaging winds knocked down tree limbs and power lines, resulting in thousands of people losing power. At one point more than 12,000 people were without power, with most of the outages in Butler, Darke and Warren counties.
More severe weather was possible Wednesday into early Thursday morning. Butler County was under a Flood Watch until 7 a.m. Thursday.
Holly Mullen of Hanover Twp. spoke about what she experienced Tuesday night, roughly an hour after the suspected tornado struck.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
She had been home from work about 20 minutes and had fed her dogs before letting them outside. She was going to get a shower and get ready for bed.
“Next thing I know, the lights started flickering really hard,” Mullen said, “and both the front door and the back door of my home just both flew open all the sudden.
“It shook the house like the house was going to come up off the foundation. It was almost like a train hit the house is what it felt like.”
Mullen said she was very shaken.
“My biggest fear was ‘Am I going to make it to see my kids tomorrow?’ " she said.
She said she had no idea what had happened, but first responders told her the area was hit by a tornado.
“We just moved here in October,” Mullen said. “We wanted to be here in the country.”