AUGLAIZE COUNTY, OH (WLIO) - The National Weather Service was in Auglaize County Saturday afternoon and determined that at least one tornado, and potentially more, struck the county causing a few injuries and a lot of damage.
From the east to the west side, the damage from the early morning storm that hit Auglaize County is evident. As of Saturday afternoon, there was around 70 structures had been documented with storm damage, but that total could rise as more information comes in.
The Golden Fresh Farms’ greenhouse was leveled by a tornado with only the warehouse and offices parts of the building remaining standing. That same tornadic activity took off roofs at hotels around I-75 and damage the Wapak Travel Plaza, flipping a semi and damaging others, plus taking out the rear of the building in the process.
“Around the city of Wapak, its been businesses,” says Troy Anderson, Auglaize County EMA Director. “Once we got out into the communities that is when we are starting to see residential structures and farms.”
One of the farms that was hit was Mike Whitney's which sits between St. Marys and Spencerville.
“We were in bed and the phones went off and the wind picked up,” says Whitney. “I have lived here my whole life, and I never heard anything like it. So we went straight to the basement, just by the way it was blowing, I figured we were going to have trouble when we got out of the basement.”
At Whitney's place, all but one of his grain bins was destroyed during the storm. Part of the roof of one of the bins crashed through the roof of a barn. Right away, friends and neighbors started to help out with the cleanup.
“It can all be fixed and we got a lot of good friends and a lot of good people here helping to get it cleaned up and a lot of good companies here first thing this morning to make sure we get back up and running,” adds Whitney.
As part of the cleanup efforts, the Auglaize County EMA is working on a plan for people to get rid of their metal and wood debris.
“We are going to be getting that information out on the webpages and social medias as soon as we get that finalized,” adds Anderson. “But make sure that the residents separate the debris, from woody debris to household waste and metal. Keep it separate so that way we can actually get the cleanup done a lot quicker and get things back to normal.”
