Clinton County avoided any tornadoes Wednesday afternoon and evening, but the area was hit hard with storms and showers.
Between about 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., “several rounds of storms” pelted the county with rainfall between just over an inch up to 1.5 inches, according to Meteorologist Kristen Cassady of the National Weather Service in Wilmington. Wilmington’s tornado warning sirens sounded two times.
The NWS reported Wednesday night that it “received numerous damage reports from the storms” as well as “several reports and pictures of tornadoes” in Southwest Ohio, and it would be conducting damage surveys to assess the situations.
The NWS confirmed Wednesday night that a tornado touched down in Miami County near West Milton and Tipp City.
A Meijer distribution center was heavily damaged as employees inside heeded tornado warnings and sought shelter, authorities said.
Joel Smith, director of the Miami County Emergency Management Agency, said nobody was injured at the facility and there have been no reports of injuries from the storm in the county, according to the Associated Press.
Smith said the Meijer facility employs dozens of people. It wasn’t immediately clear how many of them evacuated the part of the structure that was damaged. He said a few other buildings were hit in the area, but the storm’s severe damage mostly hit north of the city’s residential areas.
The National Weather Service issued multiple tornado warnings in the area, including in Clinton County.
The NWS added, “Additional damage is believed to have been caused by tornadoes, and storm surveys will seek to confirm and clarify these details as necessary” including in southeastern Darke County, in Brown County near Sardinia, in Clark County, and in Hocking County.
