CLEVELAND — Severe weather made its way through Northeast Ohio on Wednesday evening, leaving some damage in its wake -- and one of the hardest-hit areas was the Windham community in Portage County.
A survey team with the National Weather Service confirmed on Thursday that an EF-1 tornado did touch down in Windham. Data from the NWS indicates that the tornado touched down between 6:45 p.m. and 6:51 p.m., beginning near the intersection of state Route 303 and Stanley Road. The storm's estimated peak winds were 110 miles per hour.
William Sears was with his girlfriend in their trailer when the storm hit. They went across the street to take cover in a neighbor's basement.
"We opened the front door to the house and I mean, it was just like looking out like Twister, just devastation everywhere," he told 3News' Lindsay Buckingham.
There has been a steady stream of teamwork for cleanup efforts since Wednesday night. Windham Fire Lt. Eric Mathews says his department has been working around the clock with local and state officials.
"Everybody's going from yard to yard, helping each other clean up. It's wonderful how this community comes together and it's just amazing," he said.
While no one was injured as a result of the tornado, the damage is absolutely devastating. One fire official told 3News that the radius of the damage area is around three miles. Damage is estimated into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The American Red Cross reports that it is assisting residents from six households who were impacted by the storms in Portage County. Four homes were destroyed, while another two were heavily damaged. A spokesperson for the agency says volunteer caseworkers will be working with the six families "to provide immediate financial aid and longer-term recovery assistance."
3News' Isabel Lawrence was there early Thursday morning to get a closer look at some of the aftermath.
"The good news this morning, despite all the damage done here, is that the sheriff's office tells me there were no injuries or deaths from this storm," Lawrence reported from Portage County.
3News' Chief Meteorologist Betsy Kling said during "What's Next" at 11 p.m. Wednesday that the event was a tornado based on radar confirmation.
“There’s multiple areas where we believe that tornado tracked," she said. "That’s where we saw the debris on radar. The tornado hit something — trees, buildings, whatever — and it lofts that debris. The radar can pick up that debris, and so it’s known as a tornado debris signature. That is a radar confirmation of tornado on the ground.”
Meghan Strahler tells 3News she knew her family was danger when the wind took a drastic change.
"I was just standing in front of the window looking out, and I just saw a big, what looked like a cloud just swirling around," Strahler said. "I'm like, 'Something does not look right. We need to get downstairs now.'"
When she came back upstairs, she saw trees split in two and power lines down, leaving residents on Windham Parkman Road in the dark. Close by, a ripped up home sat in danger of collapsing.
There were also issues along the Ohio Turnpike in Portage County amid the storms on Wednesday night. Below is a report, plus aerial video from the Ohio State Highway Patrol:
"The preliminary investigation showed three commercial vehicles were eastbound on the Ohio Turnpike when a weather-related incident occurred. The weather-related incident caused a Freightliner tractor-trailer combination, operated by Randy Stanley Rivera Florentio, 24, Cleveland; an International tractor-trailer combination, operated by Michael L. Mcfadden, 50, Salem; and a Freightliner tractor-trailer combination, operated by Anatoli Kulakouski, 39, Miami, Florida, to lose control. Kulakouski’s vehicle rolled over onto the concrete median barrier. Mcfadden’s vehicle ran off the roadway struck a guardrail and then jack-knifed and the trailer of Florentio’s vehicle sustained damage.
"Kulakouski sustained minor injuries and was transported by ground ambulance to the University Hospital Portage Medical Center. Florentino and Mcfadden did not report any injuries.
"The eastbound lanes of the turnpike were closed for approximately three hours while the scene was cleared."
The severe weather had triggered a variety of alerts throughout Northeast Ohio, including multiple Tornado Warnings. All those weather alerts have since expired.
After Wednesday's storms, it will turn a bit cooler Thursday before another frontal boundary moves in Friday, bringing more showers and a shot of cooler air for the weekend.