MECCA TOWNSHIP, Ohio (WKBN) – The National Weather Service confirmed Friday afternoon that an EF-1 tornado touched down in Mecca Township on Thursday.
The tornado formed east of Mosquito Creek Lake and moved into Mecca, hitting several homes on Edgewater and Griffith drives, where cleanup is now underway.
Several trees were also snapped and uprooted before the tornado dissipated east of Philips Rice Road.
According to the National Weather Service, a brief EF-0 tornado was also spotted in Johnston Township. It touched down on Porter Drive, causing tree damage.
Some of the hardest-hit areas were in Trumbull County. In Mecca Township, a trampoline flew in the air and got hung up on power lines at the corner of Edgewater and Griffith drives.
Crews were out Friday removing it, but they did so very carefully.
Also in Mecca, a house was damaged by the storm. The roof was damaged along with the siding on the house.
Hannah Stull lives on Griffith Drive. She said the clouds at first looked like steam or smoke but then changed.
“Obviously, it was clouds that started to rise and then each individually swirled and then it kind of got together and just started to take off. The sky was yellow.,” Stull said. “I heard the whistle go off for the fourth or fifth time. I ran inside because I seen it coming.”
When Stull came back outside, her neighborhood was filled with debris. Trees were ripped from the ground, debris littered the street, and then there was that trampoline hanging from the power lines.
“I feel sad for those people who lost their roof or their trampoline or their garage, but I am very thankful that no one lost their lives,” Stull said.
Brett Shipley used a chainsaw to clear away broken tree limbs that fell on his house. He said a limb busted through the roof.
“The limb came down and penetrated through the roof, through the drywall into her bedroom,” Shipley said.
Shipley said he and his family were in the basement when the storm came through.
“No one was close and no one got hurt,” he said.
Across the Valley and into Mercer and Lawrence counties, homeowners are assessing damage as the National Weather Service prepares to survey the area and determine the intensity of the storm. They confirmed that a tornado was spotted Thursday at about 6:07 p.m. between Niles and Warren with visual confirmation by law enforcement.
In all, 11 tornado warnings were issued in the area. That’s the most they’ve issued for an event since 2005.
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