Midwest Tornadoes, High Winds Damage Homes, Businesses

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The National Weather Service says at least five tornadoes were part of the storms that battered Ohio early on April 20. Hours before, a tornado measured as an EF3 hit near Girard, Ill., about 20 miles south of Springfield in Macoupin County. The twister had an estimated wind speed of between 136 and 167 mph.

In Indiana, the NWS said four tornadoes in Dubois County are among 14 that struck the state during the latest round of severe weather. The weather service says the strongest of those storms, an EF-2 on the enhanced Fujita scale, had a wind speed up to 120 mph and carved a three-mile path southwest of Jasper late on April 19. Dubois County had three other weaker tornadoes.

An EF-2 tornado struck near Thorntown, Ind., about 25 miles northwest of Indianapolis. Two EF-1 tornadoes struck Grant County and one each near Lafayette and in eastern Indiana’s Jay County.

Two tornadoes, an EF-1 and a weaker EF-0, hit Clark County. Two EF-0 twisters hit Cass County in north central Indiana another hit southern Indiana’s Harrison County.

No injuries from the tornadoes are reported.

The strongest of the confirmed tornadoes in Ohio hit the city of Heath in Licking County with estimated winds of up to 120 mph. Trees two feet in diameter were snapped off, and part of the metal roof was peeled away atop a small car rental company building.

Another tornado about 5 miles away destroyed a mobile home with winds clocked at up to 109 mph.

Three other tornadoes struck western Ohio, including the Toledo suburb of Oregon. An estimated two dozen homes there were damaged by winds up to 85 mph.

A tornado ripped away the roof of a grocery store and collapsed one of its walls in the western Ohio town of Celina, which is about 60 miles north of Dayton. The winds also tore off the roof of a nearby home improvement store and destroyed several barns.