Ohio tornadoes prompt mass casualty response in Logan County, NW of Columbus

For the second time in as many weeks, storms and likely tornadoes tore through Ohio Thursday night with 20 tornado warnings issued statewide.

The storms included what is being called a "mass casualty event" at a trailer park at Indian Lake in Logan County, about 70 miles northwest of Columbus. However, a spokesperson for the the county Emergency Management Agency told the Associated Press that there have been no confirmations of fatalities.

“We had a tornado strike here in Logan County. There is damage, it is still being assessed. We do have people on the ground, doing that work,” the spokesperson told the AP.

WBNS in Columbus reported multiple buildings were destroyed in Indian Lake with "extensive damage" in the area.

The EMA confirmed for The Dispatch that a trailer park in the Indian Lake area just north of Lakeview was struck by a tornado or at least very high winds that have caused extensive damage. The community also reported having a shortage of ambulances.

An NWS spokesman said he couldn't confirm that a tornado struck the community, but said there was "reports of a lot of damage there."

The Ohio storms were part of a larger system that pushed through the Midwest beginning in the afternoon and into the evening.

The National Weather Service in Wilmington and Cleveland issued 20 tornado warnings based on a review of social media posts. That does not include multiple thunderstorm and other alerts.

AEP Ohio reported 12,000 customers were without power as of 11:30 p.m., with 8,500 out in Delaware County north of Columbus where a tornado warning was issued about 9 p.m. First Energy reported 3,000 outages in northern Ohio.

The Ohio Emergency Management Agency said volunteers were not needed at the "active" scene in a social media post at 11:27 p.m.

At least three confirmed tornadoes touched down Thursday afternoon in southern Indiana and north-central Kentucky Thursday, leaving dozens of structures damaged or destroyed, The Louisville Courier-Journal reported.

Tornado warnings from National Weather Service, Wilmington

The National Weather Service in Wilmington issued 13 tornado warnings Thursday evening, according to a review of posts on X, the former Twitter.

• Tornado Warning including Celina, Coldwater and Rockford until 7:15 p.m.

• Tornado Warning including Wapakoneta, Saint Marys and Cridersville until 7:30 p.m.

• Tornado Warning continues for Wapakoneta, Saint Marys and Cridersville until 7:30 p.m.

• Tornado Warning including Wapakoneta, Jackson Center and Russells Point until 8 p.m.

• Tornado Warning including Bellefontaine, Russells Point and Belle Center OH until 8:30 p.m.

• Tornado Warning including Greenville, Union City IN and Union City until 8:30 p.m.

• Tornado Warning including Delaware, Richwood and West Mansfield until 9 p.m.

• Tornado Warning including Greenville, Versailles and Covington until 9 p.m.

• Tornado Warning including Troy, Piqua and Covington until 9:15 p.m.

• Tornado Warning including Delaware, Sunbury and Galena until 9:45 p.m.

• Tornado Warning including Newark, Granville and Johnstown until 10:15 p.m.

• Tornado Warning including Urbana, Saint Paris and Fletcher until 10 p.m.

• Tornado Warning including Mechanicsburg, Woodstock and Mutual until 10:15 p.m.

Tornado warnings from National Weather Service, Cleveland

The National Weather Service in Cleveland issued 7 tornado warnings Thursday evening, according to a review of posts on X, the former Twitter.

• Tornado Warning including Wadsworth, Orrville and Rittman until 9:30 p.m.

• Tornado Warning including Bucyrus, Crestline and New Washington until 9:15 p.m.

• Tornado Warning including Ashland, Willard and Plymouth until 9 p.m.

• Tornado Warning including Upper Sandusky, Carey and Arlington until 8:30 p.m.

• Tornado Warning including Willard, Plymouth and Greenwich until 8:15 p.m.

• Tornado Warning including Tiffin, Carey and New Washington until 7:45 p.m.

• Tornado Warning including Findlay, McComb and Arcadia until 7:15 p.m.

Storms hit Indiana, Kentucky, northern, central and southern Ohio

Tornadoes were confirmed near Hanover and Marion in Indiana and near Milton in Kentucky. As for Ohio, officials have said it's too early to say just how widespread the storms were, or whether any confirmed tornadoes touched down.

Meterologist Steve Harbenach of the National Weather Service in Wilmington said there have been several radar confirmations of possible tornadoes across Ohio, but added "we really have no idea right now how many tornadoes we had."

"There have been numerous areas we've had reports of damage," he added. "It's going to take a while for us to sort through that. it's going to take multiple days for us to sort through this to see what happened."

An X user who was driving from Lima and passing through Logan took pictures of the extensive damage. In the post on X, he said authorities told him that he had missed a tornado "by about 2 minutes." He could not confirm if there were any casualties, but said that a large section of U.S. Route 33 northwest of Marysville would remain closed as authorities assessed the damage.

Tornado watches remained in effect until midnight in dozens of Ohio counties, including Delaware, Fairfield, Fayette, Franklin, Hocking, Licking, Madison, Pickaway, Union, Ross, Butler, Clinton, Hamilton, Warren, Champaign, Clark, Drake, Greene, Logan, Miami, Montgomery, Preble and Shelby.

Severe thunderstorm warnings remained in effect for Franklin and Madison counties until 11 p.m.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Logan County tornado: Mass casualty incident reported by EMA