Recovery is underway

Matt and Betsy Minnich built their home about 12 years ago.

They celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary June 11.

One week later, the couple stood outside what remained of their home after a tornado ripped through their rural neighborhood.

A National Weather Service assessment over the weekend rated Friday’s storm an EF2 category tornado with peak wind speeds of 130 miles per hour. Damage assessments by emergency management agencies in Jay and Mercer counties found nearly two dozen homes and even more outbuildings impacted, with three homes in Jay County severely damaged.

There were no injuries.

The Minnich property was one of a group damaged near the intersection of county roads 450 East and 500 North. Their outbuilding was reduced to half its former size, half of their home’s roof was torn off, their garage lost half its walls and all that was left of their backyard playground set was a slab of concrete.

The basement, an outdoor spinning clothesline pole and several religious items on the walls, however, appeared untouched by the storm.

The roof was ripped off of the home of Keith and Melissa Brunswick, who live north of Minnichs, an unoccupied house across the road was damaged and several outbuildings were demolished at Edward and Paula Davidson’s property on county road 500 North. Other areas of significant damage included several outbuildings and the home of Michael White on county road 300 North just east of county road 600 East. In addition to the homes and outbuildings that were destroyed or damaged, the tornado also brought down a 100-foot-tall communications tower in Jay County.

The storm then moved into Mercer County, where Fort Recovery Lumber Company, 2550 Wabash Road, had significant damage to two buildings, with one roof torn off and a cinder block wall collapsed.

Brian Bubp, owner of Fort Recovery Lumber Company, said he and 13 other employees were outside watching a funnel cloud near what they thought was St. Anthony, about 7 miles to the north.

“All the sudden it started pouring (and) we all ran into the office,” he said. “It was blowing and pouring so hard we couldn’t see. Never really knew it was a tornado. It got really bad, the power went off and one guy saw the roof blow off.

“It’s not like the movies where you can see it coming from 5 miles away.”

The office where they took shelter was untouched.

Two outbuildings were heavily damaged at the 1484 Burrville Road property of David and Marie Link. To the east, at 1229 Wourms Road, an outbuilding on property owned by Ralph and Constance Guggenbiller was leveled. There was also damage to other outbuildings and silos.

Over the weekend, friends, family and volunteers helped those effected by the storm clean up their properties. Volunteers were still helping to clean up the rubble at the Links’ property Monday.

While signs of the tornado were still apparent Tuesday night, most of the debris had been stacked into large piles.

Work to replace the roof that was torn off at Fort Recovery Lumber will begin Thursday.

Amid broken windows, exposed insulation and a shattered basketball hoop backboard, Holy Trinity Catholic Church of rural Bryant hosted Mass on Monday evening in what remained of the Minnichs’ outbuilding. A crowd of about 100 gathered outside the structure to pray for their recovery.

The hard-to-see pieces still left, however, were Matt’s biggest concern.

“I see all the glass and the nails in the yard,” Matt said, noting his children like to play outside barefoot. “What am I going to do about that?”

The National Weather Service said the storm developed over southern Adams County and quickly intensified as it turned south into northeast Jay County. A tornado developed at 3:50 p.m. about 3 miles southeast of Bryant — GPS data shows it starting in a field owned by Gary Stolz — and strengthened to an EF2 category tracking east-southeast. (An EF2 is the third-strongest on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, with an EF5 being the most violent with winds faster than 200 miles per hour. The 2017 tornado in Jay County that started in Dunkirk and resulted in significant damage along county road 300 North, east of U.S. 27, was rated an EF3.)

It weakened briefly as the “parent storm” shifted south-southeast and re-intensified into a “multi-vortex, 500-yard-wide EF2 tornado.” It then weakened, with the tornado eventually lifting in a field owned by Gary and Kevin Sudhoff west of county road 700 East, just north of its intersection with county road 150 North. Dime-to-quarter-sized hail was also reported in some areas as the storm passed.

As the storm proceeded across the state line into Mercer County, the National Weather Service noted signs of “tornadic damage” again just north of Park Road and east of the Wabash River. The tornado continued southeast, hitting Fort Recovery Lumber, crossing Fort Recovery-Minster Road and damaging buildings in the area of Burrville, Hart and Wourms roads. The report said the tornado seemed to then rapidly weaken, lifting just northeast of the intersection of Fox and Meiring roads.

National Weather Service data said the tornados had peak wind speeds of 130 miles per hour in Jay County and 115 miles per hour in Mercer County. They were on the ground for 5.23 miles in Jay County and 5.7 miles in Mercer County.

Sections of county roads 300 North, 400 North, 500 North and 450 East were closed for an extended period of time to allow Jay County REMC to repair damage to poles and lines to restore power.

The Portland Foundation announced Monday that it awarded a $25,000 grant to United Way of Jay County to help those effected by the tornado. The funds are for those who lost personal and household items or are in need of food, lodging or fuel. Representatives from United Way will work directly to assess needs and distribute the money as needed.

“The Portland Foundation is happy to be able to assist the community in its time of need,” said Doug Inman, executive director of The Portland Foundation, in a press release. “The generosity of the countless donors who have given to the foundation over the past 70 years allows us to award this grant.”

Of the 10 houses affected in the Fort Recovery area, Mercer County Emergency Management Agency director Mike Robbins said none received what Federal Emergency Management Agency would consider major damage.

“There was a lot of roofing missing but rafters were OK,” he said. “They’ll be back inside within a couple weeks.”

And multiple buildings sustained damage at Fort Recovery Lumber, the business was not otherwise impacted.

“Never lost one piece of wood (or) metal,” Bubp said. “No inventory lost. We never had truck damage. All of the semis were parked inside both of these buildings and there was no scratch on them.”

Robbins added that, though there were no injuries reported, recent severe storms should serve as a cautionary tale.

“I think with the history here the last five years, I think people heed the warnings and get in their safe place,” he said. “That’s what everybody needs to do.”

(The City of Portland tested its tornado sirens today.)

The Minnichs did suffer a loss from the storm.

Their dog, Eli, who was home when the tornado hit, had seemed unaffected, but died Sunday from internal bleeding. He wasn’t showing any signs of pain until his final moments, Betsy Minnich explained. When he died, he was at their parents’ home next to Betsy’s sister, a vet tech.

After Eli’s death and days of cleanup, the reality of the tornado’s impact finally began to sink in to the Minnichs.

“I usually deal with stress with a smile and making jokes –– what else am I going to do?” Matt said. “Looking at all the glass and debris felt overwhelming. I think of all the work that I’ve got to do.”