Ohio
The tornadoes that struck the western counties of Darke, Defiance, Mercer, Paulding, and Van Wert in Ohio on March 28, 1920, originated in the Hoosier State, quickly moving across the state line into Ohio.
The first tornado to move into Ohio was from Allen County, Indiana. After moving through Paulding County, twister moved into the Defiance area. Here several homes and a small store would be destroyed and six people would lose their lives.
The violent tornado then moved northeast into Henry and Fulton Counties, tearing through the town of Swanton, causing major damage. Many factories, shops, and homes were completely demolished. According to the Toledo Blade newspaper, the central business district sustained very heavy damage along Main Street, extending into nearby residential areas, where the damage became more intense. This damage brought out many thieves that looted local businesses and houses that had been hit by the tornado.
Increasing in size, the storm moved into northwest Lucas County the damage became more widespread, as buildings and homes were swept clean of their foundations. Here farmhouses and other buildings would be reduced to rubble as the violent tornado .5 miles (1 km) wide at this point moved towards Raab Corners.
The residents of Raab Corners were largely unaware of the impending danger as they celebrated Palm Sunday services at the Immaculate Conception and St. Mary's Churches that evening. Just after 7:00 p.m. rain and small hail started to come down in torrents. As the power went out churchgoers lighted kerosene lamps to illuminate the interior of their buildings, and to continue their Palm Sunday services, when the winds began to increase followed by large hail that shattered all the windows. Around 7:15 p.m. a solid black wall of swirling clouds proceeded to engulf Raab Corners, destroying everything in its path killing four people. Local residents decided not to rebuild the town, moving to nearby communities in Michigan and Ohio. Today, only an intersection remains at once was the main four corners.
While this tornado would dissipate just after reaching the Michigan State Line, further south in Mercer and Van Wert Counties, another tornado was coming, and it like its predecessor to the north would destroy everything in its path.
After exiting Adams County, Indiana, this large tornado moved towards the far northwestern part of Mercer County in west-central Ohio, again destroying nearly everything in its path. As the tornado moved on into Van Wert County, three more victims would perish and many would be injured as the storm moved to the south of Van Wert. Some of this same area was hit by another violent twister on November 10, 2002.
Two more tornadoes 46 miles (74 km) to the east-northeast and south of Van Wert were already on the ground when the previous storm lifted. The first, a large tornado entered Darke County from Indiana. This storm would kill five and injure 10 more near the community of Lightsville before dissipating. The second storm would move towards the Bowling Green area.
According to the Dayton Journal, the greatest amount of damage would occur in the Darke County community of Greenville, when a second tornado, more violent than the first, would cause catastrophic damage to everything in its path. Moving northeast from the Greenville-Nashville Road area at roughly 50 miles per hour (80 km/h), eight people lost their lives as their homes were completely destroyed. As the recovery got underway, special trains to Cincinnati and other nearby towns transported the injured to medical facilities where they were treated.
Around 7:30 pm, another tornado developed in eastern Mercer County first appearing as a waterspout over Grand Lake St. Marys. This storm quickly intensified as it moved towards the northeast at 55 miles per hour (89 km/h). The heaviest damage occurred near Moulton, located in Auglaize County, as several farms and homes were destroyed, with only minor injuries reported. This tornado continued on into Allen County, but lifted before striking the city of Lima.
To the north in Wood County, another twister (some reports say there were two at the same time) touched down east of Bowling Green, Ohio, and moved rapidly northeast into Sandusky County, taking everything in its path with it. Moving into the Ottawa County village of Genoa, over 36 homes and several businesses were pulverized by the tornado. In the Clay Township area, two people were killed and 20 people were injured, extending to the small town of Trowbridge. The tornado passed out into Lake Erie before causing any further damage.
Read more about this topic: 1920 Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak
Famous quotes containing the word ohio:
“All inquiry into antiquity, all curiosity respecting the Pyramids, the excavated cities, Stonehenge, the Ohio Circles, Mexico, Memphis,—is the desire to do away this wild, savage, and preposterous There and Then, and introduce in its place the Here and Now.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Heaven is not one of your fertile Ohio bottoms, you may depend on it.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“This fair homestead has fallen to us, and how little have we done to improve it, how little have we cleared and hedged and ditched! We are too inclined to go hence to a “better land,” without lifting a finger, as our farmers are moving to the Ohio soil; but would it not be more heroic and faithful to till and redeem this New England soil of the world?”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)