High winds slammed county

Significant winds damaged the eastern portion of Jay County over the weekend.

The National Weather Service and Jay County Emergency Management Agency are still assessing the damage today.

Winds struck the east area of Jay County late Friday, taking with them several barns, buildings and other structures. As of press time this morning, officials had not determined whether or not the storm included a tornado.

The National Weather Service issued a wind advisory Friday. A tornado watch was issued at 10:28 p.m. Friday.

(A watch means tornadoes are possible in the area but have not been sighted or indicated yet by weather radar.) The county moved to a severe thunderstorm warning about 11:41 p.m. Friday. Less than an hour later, the tornado watch was canceled.

Just before 1 a.m. Saturday, the county sent out a notification saying a tornado had possibly touched down in the area of county roads 550 East and 400 North.

Several roads in both the northeastern and southeastern portion of the county were closed Saturday because of downed power lines. Damage to barns and other buildings could be seen driving along county road 400 North on Monday. Some structures were toppled entirely, evident by the pile of rubble left behind. Debris still littered some of the fields along the road.

Jay County Emergency Management posted an update Sunday to its Facebook page about the storm, thanking local departments and electric companies for their help in responding to the storm. Director Samantha Rhodehammel was not available for comment as of press time this morning.

The National Weather Service and Jay County Emergency Management were surveying storm damage in the eastern portion of Jay County on Monday and today. So far, seven tornadoes have been confirmed across the state from Friday’s storm, impacting Grant, White, Cass and Allen counties. Tornadoes were also confirmed in Miami and Paulding counties in Ohio.