Heavy storm damage reported near Enon, barn destroyed

Credit: DaytonDailyNews

Heavy storm damage was reported in Enon Wednesday night, including a barn that was destroyed.

Springfield News-Sun reporters were on scene at the flattened barn on Dayton Springfield Road. Metal had been tossed throughout the property and neighbors said they believed a tornado had hit the barn.

Homeowner Michelle Legge said the barn was destroyed in the storm.

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“It sounded really crazy outside so I looked out my window and I saw a really dark cloud,” she said. “It looked like it was hanging out of the sky.”

She said soon after she heard windows bust in her home and acted quickly to protect her child.

“I yelled for my daughter and we went into the bathroom,” she said.

The barn was leveled and her home suffered heavy damage, including to its chimney. The barn was housing large farm equipment and it appeared that those vehicles were damaged as well.

“We’re fine and all this stuff is replaceable,” Legge said.

It is still unclear if the damage was caused by a tornado or straight-line winds, WHIO Storm Center 7 Meteorologist McCAll Vrydaghs said.

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“It would be too soon to say at this point in time,” she said. “We did see broad rotations with the thunder storm that moved through Clark County. We’ll have to wait and see if the National Weather Service is going to go out and do a survey of the damage and they would have to give the official report.”

The survey will look at the type of damage, including if it’s mostly on the ground or if it’s up in trees and if the debris is all in one direction or spread out, to determine if it was a tornado or straight-line winds, she said.

The winds topped 60 miles per hour during the storm, Vrydaghs said, and any winds that high can cause damage.

“For the most part Springfield, Enon and German Twp, that’s where I’m seeing a lot of the damage reports,” she said.

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More than 2,800 customers across Clark County were without power Wednesday night. Ohio Edison’s website said the estimated time to restore everyone’s power was 11 a.m. today.

Mad River/Enon Fire dispatchers told the News-Sun it was busy taking many calls around 7 p.m. Mad River/Enon Fire Chief Tracy Young said that emergency units were dispatched throughout the area Wednesday night.

“We are dealing with several trees and power lines down. A couple of structures that’s been damaged and some that have been demolished,” he said.

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The extent of the damage in Enon and around the county is still unclear. Young said the department had called in other emergency crews for assistance. Trees were spotted across the road on Dayton Springfield Road.

Little to no damage was reported in Champaign and Logan counties, according to both dispatch centers.

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