3 tornadoes hit Monroe and Wayne counties

According to the report of the meteorological service, it started with a weak tornado causing damage mainly to trees "up close to Reinhardt and Heiss roads, where it became a solid EF0". "The tornado reached the EF1 strength near the Toben and South Stony Creek roads, where roofing materials were removed, leaving exposed farms and windows that were thrown into homes."

The entire course of the tornado lasted 4.3 miles. The report also indicates that garage doors have been blown and many trees have been uprooted.

At 20:45, the tornado EF-0 landed in the canton of Berlin just south of Sigler Road on the North Dixie Expressway. It moved about 4 miles at 60 mph and dissipated at 8:52 pm. near the intersection of Meadow Lane and Ostreich Road in Wayne County.

The Gibraltar tornado lasted 8:55 am to 9:02 am, during which it traveled 3.3 miles at 95 mph and was rated EF-1.

No one was injured in the storms.

Earlier in the day on Wednesday, Jason Harmon, 33, said he had not heard a decision about whether it was a tornado that had crossed his neighborhood in Frenchtown Township, but could not imagine it was something else.

"It's hard to believe, if someone says it's not a tornado, looking at the trees and decimating here," Harmon said.

Harmon's garage was torn in half. Siding was ripped out of the house and Harmon had to make a late trip to Lowe to replace a 10-by-20-foot section.

But for his skills as a handyman and friend who had a second scale extension, "we would be a little in trouble," he admitted by examining the damage.

The back patio also suffered damage, as well as a barbecue and "scattered in the neighborhood" garden items, but his wife and two children, including a one month old daughter, are safe.

And thanks to a generator, they have power.

"Otherwise we would be hurt," said Harmon.

Phil Borawski, who lives at two doors of Harmon, lives on his building since 1992, even before the road is paved.

Borawski described the damage done.

"The whole roof is out, pushed the wall," he said. "All kinds of water damage. Everything in the attic came down from the attic. The attic door was torn off.

His insurance company sent contractors to install a temporary roof on the house, but, like Harmon, he thinks it could be "months" until the family home is completely built.

This trip would start with a probable stay in a hotel on Wednesday night, as the house was too damaged to return home for the time being.

In a neighborhood of Gibraltar, residents had to deal with damage, including cars crushed under uprooted trees.

At Dan Dreher's house, trees landed on three full-size trucks and an SUV in the driveway.

"We do not have a vehicle," said the 37-year-old who was working at the time the storm hit. "It will take some time for that, because the insurance company said it could not even remove the vehicles before the trees were cleared."

Rodney Cook, 47, and his girlfriend Brandy Shaffer, 45, live in a condominium west of Jefferson, Gibraltar.

"He calmed down for a second," said Shaffer.

"There was no wind, nothing," Cook added. "Then, unexpectedly …"

"It looked like a jet plane," said Shaffer, finishing his boyfriend's thought. "I could see the wind coming towards us."

The couple then is hidden in the bathroom.

The next morning, with half of the roof of the building torn off, the couple swear they experienced a tornado and not just high winds.

"I think it was a tornado," said Shaffer, citing the water that was sucked into the toilet and the big boom.

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