CELINA — Gov. Mike DeWine was in Celina on Tuesday for a first-hand look at damage caused when a suspected tornado passed through Mercer County Monday night.
A spokesperson for the Ohio Emergency Management Agency confirmed that one person was killed and dozens other were injured as a result of the severe storms that struck Celina.
Celina Mayor Jeffrey Hazel told multiple area media outlets that the victim was an 81-year-old man named Melvin Dale Hannah. He was killed when winds blew a parked car into his house.
An Ohio EMA spokeswoman said a storm survey team from the National Weather Service was surveying Mercer County to get a better picture of the damage cause later in the day on Tuesday.
The west side of Celina was reportedly the hardest hit by the storm.
A temporary shelter where residents affected by the storm may get food and water was set up at the Celina First Church of God.
At least half a dozen communities from eastern Indiana through central Ohio suffered damage, according to the National Weather Service. The storms damaged homes, blew out windows, toppled trees and left debris so thick that at one point, highway crews had to use snowplows to clear an interstate.
The National Weather Service tweeted Monday night that a “large and dangerous tornado” hit near Trotwood, Ohio, eight miles northwest of Dayton. Several apartment buildings were damaged or destroyed, including the Westbrooke Village Apartment complex, where an aerial photo shows the roof blown off entirely.
