COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — A strong line of thunderstorms that woke up central Ohio to tornado sirens Wednesday morning caused damage to numerous areas in the region with those storms producing five tornadoes.
Starting at 4:45 a.m., Franklin, Fairfield, Licking, Knox, Madison, Morgan and Perry counties went under tornado warnings with strong winds creating tornadic conditions. Storm Team 4’s Live VIPIR Radar reported a tornado touched down in West Jefferson.
As of 6:50 p.m. Wednesday, the Nation Weather Service confirmed five tornadoes touched down in central and southwestern Ohio:
An EF-1 in Hilliard, Franklin County
An EF-2 in Blacklick, Franklin County, which then downgraded to an EF-1 as it traveled into Jersey, Licking County
An EF-1 in London, Madison County
An EF-2 near Springfield, Clark County
An unclassified tornado in Riverside in Montgomery and Greene counties
The NWS said more details on the tornadoes would be released over the coming days.
According to the NWS, the EF-2 tornado that hit Blacklick was the strongest February tornado recorded in Franklin County since 1971.
The tornado that started in Blacklick had estimated wind speeds between 65-110 mph. It left a damage line around 8-9 miles, the NWS said.
The Hilliard tornado saw damage occurring across a short path north of Roberts Road. The NWS is continuing to survey storm damage Wednesday in other parts of central Ohio.
In Madison County, a house received significant damage from the straight-line winds that came in well over 60 mph. The Madison County Sheriff’s Office said four homes were destroyed.
Closer to Columbus, the storm in Blacklick and Licking County uprooted massive trees that damaged houses in Blacklick and Hilliard. Hilliard police said no one was injured but one house was destroyed on Hilliard Rome Road north of Roberts Road with houses damaged on Oldwynne Road and in Columbus near Hilliard. Residents around the damaged houses in Hilliard have pitched in to help with the clean-up.
The weather alerts have caused several central Ohio school districts to announce delays Wednesday morning and American Electric Power announced thousands are without power. AEP posted damage photos from southwest Columbus, Granville, and Lancaster. Further away in Dayton, strong winds and storm conditions damaged buildings and planes at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
At John Glenn International Airport in Columbus, passengers were sheltered from 5:25 a.m. to 6 a.m. during the tornado warning in Franklin County. A spokesperson with the airport confirmed no damage was found that would impede airport operations.
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