Tuesday, May 28th, 2019
Tornado leaves heavy damage in wake
Homes torn apart, seven reported hurt
From staff reports
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
A tornado roared through Mercer County, causing a blackout and severe damage to the homes on Hellwarth Road near Fairground Road.
CELINA - At least seven people were seriously injured and multiple homes devastated when a tornado tore through northwestern Celina on Monday night.
Emergency responders were in search-and-rescue mode early this morning checking for residents trapped in heavily damaged homes, mostly near Wheatland Acres, Fairground Road and the Bruns Addition. Some homes were destroyed and vehicles picked up and spit out by the powerful tornado, Celina Mayor Jeff Hazel said.
Six people were transported to Mercer County Community Hospital in Coldwater and one to Joint Township District Memorial Hospital in St. Marys, Hazel said. Those were lesser injuries opted to wait until later to go the hospital, he said.
"Right now it's an active search-and-rescue mission," Hazel said at about midnight.
At 12:33 a.m. this morning, Mercer Health Community Hospital's nursing supervisor Katie Bruns told the paper the emergency room was full. Officials were still assessing injuries but had no reports of fatalities.
Celina officials called in mutual assistance from Van Wert, St. Marys and throughout Mercer County. The Mercer County Sheriff's department also worked alongside the Ohio Highway State Patrol.
The tornado left the city without power. Hazel said officials would keep the power off until they could isolate the areas with downed power lines where emergency responders were continuing to work.
Hazel expected electrical service to be restored to three-fourths of the town by 3:30 a.m.
Sue Stachler and her husband were in the basement of their Hellwarth Road home when they heard what sounded like a train.
"We heard a big boom, a slam of a door, and we looked at each other and he said, 'Our home is gone,' " she recalled. "We hugged each other. We knew we were safe."
They tried to come up their steps but found themselves trapped.
She then called her son, a firefighter, as well as their other children to let them know what had happened.
The two had celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary the day before, she said.
"But you know what? We're safe and that's the main thing."
Dan Arnold, who lives at 7061 Hellwarth Road, said he was sitting outside watching the skies until it started to rain really hard.
"Then it sounded like a freight train was hitting the house, and it just stayed on there for about 10 minutes solid," he said. "Everything outside was blowing."
After the storm had passed, Arnold said he went outside to assess his neighborhood.
"We went outside and looked, and our neighbors' houses were all demolished," he said. "Our home didn't sustain any damage at all. We're so thankful.
A Brooke Avenue resident said groups of residents armed with flashlights went door-to-door checking on their neighbors. At least two homes were destroyed and pieces of metal and other debris were strewn about the street.
Mercer County Emergency Management Agency Director Mike Robbins said he had reports of "lots of debris in the northwest part of Celina and farther east of Celina."
A number of minor injuries have been reported, but Mercer EMA assistant director Sheryl Kuhn did not have an exact figure.
Residents roamed through the debris scatted across the 1200 block of Touvelle Street to check on residents and begin cleaning.
Standing in the front yard checking out the damage to his house, Joe Sanders said he was OK, but his next-door neighbor had suffered a minor injury, and an EMS squad was on the way to take her to the hospital.
Sanders said he's lucky his house sustained moderate siding damage, but the neighbor's house was completely blown away.
Across the street, Mike Laux was talking to others about the damage to his house.
"Everything is bad," he said, noting the rear of his home was heavily damaged, the windows were blown out and a trailer on his property had flipped over. "I'm relieved it wasn't a lot worse."
Storm victims were able to seek shelter at the Coldwater Fraternal Order of Eagles lodge, where American Red Cross representatives were ready to help. They were prepared to offer food and essentials, officials said.
"Were just trying to help," club operator Tim Burnet said. "Our motto is 'people helping people.' "
Schlosser family members were among those seeking refuge early this morning. Bill Schlosser Jr. said he, his sister Marcy and father Bill Sr. are OK, but their house and barn in the 4600 block of Fairground Road are a complete loss.
"It's a war zone," Bill Schlosser Jr. added. "It sounded like a train."
Earlier in the night, the family had a gas leak due to the initial storm and were told to stay out of the basement. After the tornado hit, the kitchen collapsed into the basement, where they would have been.
They were able to get out of the house with a laundry basket full of clothes, got their car out of the garage with help from firefighters and drive to the Eagles.
At least one tornado swept thorough Auglaize County, EMA Director Troy Anderson said. No injuries were reported, he noted, but multiple homes and a barn in the Wapakoneta area were damaged.
St. Marys Safety Service Director Greg Foxhoven pointed out the city did not lose power and had received no reports of damaged property or injuries.
Paper printing smaller edition:
Due to Monday night's severe weather, we are publishing an abbreviated edition of today's Daily Standard. We will publish the Stateline Farmer and today's comics page in Wednesday's edition. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Find links to all other tornado coverage on this page including stories, map, albums and video.
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
A tornado roared through Mercer County, causing a blackout and severe damage to the homes on Hellwarth Road near Fairground Road.
Photo by Dan Melograna/The Daily Standard
A tornado roared through Mercer County, causing a blackout and severe damage to the homes on Hellwarth Road near Fairground Road.
Photo by Tom Stankard/The Daily Standard
Debris litters the yard in the front of a house in the 1200 block of Touvelle Street in Celina on Monday night.
