LAKEVIEW, Ohio (AP) – Residents in parts of the central United States hit by deadly tornadoes were working Saturday to clean up, assess damage and assist neighbors. But recovery from the storm that hit parts of Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Arkansas will take a long time.
thursday night storm took three lives About 40 people were injured and dozens of homes were damaged in an Indiana community in the Indian Lake area of ​​Logan County, Ohio, one of the hardest hit areas. Tornadoes were also reported in Illinois and Missouri.
Samantha Snipes, 33, said when she first heard the tornado warning, she called her father, who lives seven minutes away, and told him to evacuate. She told The Associated Press that he was about to go into a closet in her childhood home when his phone went off.
She and her husband tried to drive down the main road to get to him, but were unable to do so and had to take back roads after the tornado passed.
“It was like a movie like 'Twister,'” she said. “His father's garage collapsed. The back of his house was gone. Like everything was gone.”
They went through everything crying out for him. When she found him, he wasn't hurt and she told him to stop crying, she said.
Her father, Joe Baker, always told his children to hide in a closet when a tornado struck.
“We grew up here. This feels like our childhood home,” said Snipes, who was dumping things Saturday and thinking about what could be salvaged. “I saw it on the news. But I never imagined it would happen to me.”
Steve Wills, a pastor who owns a vacation home along the Orchard Island road, said Saturday he would bring in his family's staff to finish cleaning and plug holes in the roof.
“We feel bad for the families who lost people. Three people died in our community. You know, it breaks our hearts,” Wills said. “But it could have been so much more, so much more. Yes, that's why I still have faith.”
The community has been really helpful, Snipes said.
On Friday, the superintendent was delivering food, clothing and diapers. The night of the tornado, she said, neighbors on her father's street went door to door turning off gas.
“Everyone on this road is safe. You know it's about neighbor helping neighbor by now,” Snipes said.