Storm destroys 3 homes

FINDLAY — Three houses were destroyed and nine more were damaged in Hancock County's Orange Township during Thursday's storms, according to Lee Swisher, director of the Hancock County Emergency Management Agency. There were no injuries. Swisher was out with crews from the National Weather Service Friday morning assessing the damage. Early surveys indicate an E1 tornado touched down briefly in the rural Jenera area. Wind speeds were estimated at 100 mph to 105 mph, and the tornado measured about 100 yards wide, Swisher said. The storm also downed power poles in the area and damaged other structures and fields in the area. Tornado warnings for central Hancock County, including Findlay, were issued at about 7 p.m. Thursday, with a second warning for southeastern Hancock County, Orange Township, at about 7:30 p.m. Sirens in Findlay blared for the duration of the event. Findlay escaped any significant damage, according to Service Safety Director Rob Martin. Area residents reported hail and multiple sightings of funnel clouds via social media. Mike Jablonski, a photographer who lives in rural Jenera, was outside his home taking pictures of the tornado's touch-down as it moved towards his home. Jablonski lives directly east of the damaged homes. "It was eerily quiet and dead stillness," when he started watching the skies, he said. "I knew something was going to happen." Jablonski, who has studied both meteorology and earth science, said he's long been fascinated by the weather. Eventually, he was forced back into his house by the approaching storm. The tornado lifted short of his residence, but he said the clouds were still swirling as the storm cell went directly over his house. Hancock County Sheriff Michael Heldman tracked the tornadic supercell that moved over Findlay, and watched it as it moved out of town over the reservoirs, just southwest of Riverbend Park, 16618 Township Road 208, toward Vanlue. He tracked it until the storm left the eastern edge of Hancock County. Heldman said his office routinely watches field monitors and tracks severe weather as it moves through the county. He said Thursday's thunderstorms were the most severe he had witnessed in several years.