DAYTON, Ohio — The National Weather Service has confirmed two tornadoes in the Dayton area after severe thunderstorms moved across the state early Wednesday.
Thousands near Dayton were left without power following the powerful storms that knocked down trees and power lines.
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton sustained damage to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force's Restoration Hangar 4, officials announced. Gate 22B was temporarily closed for damage, but has reopened. Officials are still surveying and assessing damage throughout the base.
In Riverside and Clark County, radar tracked tornadic debris signatures in multiple areas.
A tornado was reported at 4:37 a.m. to the National Weather Service in Riverside, where glass was blown out at the Airway Shopping Center.
A tornado was reported at 4:54 a.m. to the National Weather Service in Wilmington, spotted southeast of Springfield, Ohio. Heavy debris was reported on Mitchell Road.
A tornado also was reported at 4:56 a.m. about four miles southeast of Springfield, with multiple houses damaged and a debris signature also seen on radar.
The NWS reported at 5:01 a.m. that radar confirmed a tornado southeast of Springfield moving toward South Vienna.
Don Mangen was driving on Ohio 41 in Clark County when a tree fell on his Jeep.
“I came through a light … and that tree just fell straight on top of the Jeep and spun me, threw me into the ditch,” he said.
In the 1700 block of New Love Road near South Charleston, Ohio, a couple’s home was severely damaged by a neighbor’s barn.
“It appears the neighbor’s full barn was uprooted and hit the back of our house, (took it) off the foundation,” said Charles Eckart. “It blew the back door in, took some closet doors off, busted the backside of the upper doors.”
A severe thunderstorm with strong rotation was located at 4:42 a.m. over Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. A tornado was radar indicated, and the NWS said “a tornado is occurring or imminent.”
It is not immediately clear how many tornadoes touched down.
The storms also dropped 2-inch, or egg sized, hail, which was reported at 4:55 a.m. near Springfield.
Storm damage reports also included multiple houses damaged about five miles east to southeast of Springfield, and other towns near Dayton. A large tree fell on a house at 4:35 a.m. in Huber Heights, and another tree fell on a car nearby.
During the thunderstorm, wind gusts of 60 mph were reported at 4:56 a.m. at Springfield-Beckley Airport in Springfield, Ohio.
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