MONROEVILLE, Ohio — The aftermath of Thursday’s tornadoes is still apparent in Huron County. Huron County EMA told News 5 on average, it normally gets 1 to 2 EF-0 tornadoes a year and the county hasn’t had tornadoes of this magnitude in recent years.
Despite being surrounded by destruction, the Howells are happy.
Spencer, Brittney, and their two-year-old son, Noah, are looking on the bright side after they survived the EF-2 tornado on Thursday.
“We were all hugging in the bathroom praying to God, then you hear all our windows shattering in,” said Brittney.
The Howells said the tornado lasted what felt like 45 seconds, then an eerie sense of stillness set in.
“I walked upstairs and you could see holes in our wall,” said Brittney. “We walked down to our son's bedroom and we opened the door, and we saw the wall is missing ran is pouring in it like a Shock to the system.”
Dwight Cherry lives down the road and grows feed for Huron County farms. He, too, was shocked when he saw his metal barn split down the middle.
“It came between the two trees and went right over top the larger of the two tractors and missed this building by about 20 feet,” said Cherry. “It just blew the roof off, then collapsed.”
Most of his hay is now ruined from rain and he lost nearly 100 trees that surrounded his home, which he says will cost upwards of $20,000 to get broken down.
“I’ve got total coverage on the buildings, okay, there will be a significant check for that barn, but it’s got to pay the rest of the cleanup,” Cherry added.
The Howells said pieces of surrounding barns and neighbor's homes have ended up in their yard. Two-by-four's stabbed through their home, killing one of their pets.
“The hardest thing has been the cat dying, but the fact that none of us even has a scratch,” said Brittney.
It remains top of mind as the cleanup continues. It all could have been much worse.
“We believe that it was God that protected us, and we were praying through it all he really protected us,” Brittney added.
No injuries were reported.
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