A destroyed home sits in a neighborhood after it was hit by a tornado on Tuesday, May 28, 2019, south of Lawrence, Kan., near US-59 highway and N. 1000 Road. The past couple of weeks have seen unusually high tornado activity in the U.S., with no immediate end to the pattern in sight. (Chris Neal/The Topeka Capital-Journal via AP)
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CELINA, Ohio (AP) - Strong Memorial Day tornadoes that spun through Ohio and Indiana smashed homes and businesses and sent thousands of people cowering in basements and closets, but just a single death was reported in the aftermath of the destructive storms.
Hospitals reported that as many as 130 people were injured after the tornadoes pounded communities in and around Dayton on Monday night amid a severe weather outbreak.
The Memorial day tornadoes were followed Tuesday night by a vicious storm that tore through the Kansas City area, spawning more tornadoes that damaged homes and injured at least 12 people. The storms were among 53 twisters that forecasters said may have touched down Monday across eight states stretching eastward from Idaho and Colorado.
Tornado warnings stretched as far east as New York City and the National Weather Service confirmed a touchdown in Pennsylvania.
The past couple of weeks have seen unusually high tornado activity in the U.S. Officials said more fatalities have been prevented by people doing what they were supposed to do when the tornadoes were heading their way.
In hard-hit Celina, site of the only Ohio fatality, Fire Chief Douglas Wolters cited alerts people received on their phones and extensive coverage by TV meteorologists ahead of the storm, giving residents a 10-minute warning.
"Everybody I talked to said they heeded the warning and went straight to the basement," Wolters said Tuesday evening.
Southwestern Ohio hasn't been nearly as lucky when tornadoes roared through in previous years. One of the most violent tornadoes ever recorded struck Xenia, Ohio, 15 miles (24 kilometers) east of Dayton, on April 3, 1974, killing 32 people and nearly wiping the city off the map. It was part of what meteorologists termed a Super Outbreak that spawned 148 tornadoes in 13 U.S. states and Ontario, Canada, in a 24-hour period.
Early on April 9, 1999, a powerful twister smashed into Blue Ash and Montgomery near Cincinnati, leaving four people dead and at least 100 homeless.
The storms Tuesday were the 12th straight day that at least eight tornadoes were reported to the weather service.
After Monday's tornadoes, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine declared a state of emergency in the three counties with the most damage.
The winds peeled away roofs - leaving homes looking like giant dollhouses - knocked houses off their foundations, toppled trees, brought down power lines and churned up so much debris that it could be seen on radar. Highway crews had to use snowplows to clear Interstate 75 near Dayton. One person was also injured in Indiana.
In Celina, Ohio, 82-year-old Melvin Dale Hanna was killed when a parked car was blown into his house, authorities said.
"There's areas that truly look like a war zone," said Jeffrey Hazel, mayor of the town of 10,000 about 60 miles (96 kilometers) northwest of Dayton.
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Associated Press writers Mitch Stacy in Columbus, Ohio: Dan Sewell and Amanda Seitz in Cincinnati; David Runk in Detroit; Kantele Franko and Andrew Welsh-Huggins in Columbus, Ohio; Rick Callahan in Indianapolis; John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas; and Marjory Beck in Omaha, Nebraska, contributed.
A family ducks under power lines as they make their way out of a tornado damaged neighborhood after being hit on Tuesday, May 28, 2019, south of Lawrence, Kan., near US-59 highway and N. 1000 Road. The past couple of weeks have seen unusually high tornado activity in the U.S., with no immediate end to the pattern in sight.(Chris Neal/The Topeka Capital-Journal via AP)
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Residents sort through apartments open up to the air Tuesday, May 28, 2019, at the Westbrooke Village Apartments in Trotwood, Ohio, after the roof was torn off from a severe storm the night before. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
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Residents sort through apartments open up to the air Tuesday, May 28, 2019, at the Westbrooke Village Apartments in Trotwood, Ohio, after the roof was torn off from a severe storm the night before. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
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Erica Bohannon leads reporters through her destroyed apartment, Tuesday, May 28, 2019, in Trotwood, Ohio, after a tornado storm system passed through the area the night before, tearing her roof off while she huddled with her son and dog in her bedroom closet. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
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This aerial photo shows tornado damage at the Westbrooke Village Apartment complex in Trotwood, Ohio, Tuesday, May 28, 2019. (Doral Chenoweth III/The Columbus Dispatch via AP)
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Shaun Vaine walks through his destroyed home at the River's Edge apartment complex, Tuesday, May 28, 2019, in Dayton, Ohio, the day after a tornado struck the city. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
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Pedestrians pass along storm debris on North Dixie Drive, Tuesday, May 28, 2019, in Dayton, Ohio. A rapid-fire line of apparent tornadoes tore across Indiana and Ohio overnight, packed so closely together that one crossed the path carved by another. At least half a dozen communities from eastern Indiana through central Ohio suffered damage, according to the National Weather Service, though authorities working through the night had reported no fatalities as of early Tuesday. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
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Shaun Vaine, left, and Michele Thrash, right, stand in their destroyed home at the River's Edge apartment complex, Tuesday, May 28, 2019, in Dayton, Ohio, the day after a tornado struck the city. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
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"It'll be in the house by morning" says Nick Sweeney, left, as he and his wife Tara watch the water level from flooding on their 4th Street home, Tuesday, May 28, 2019, in Portage des Sioux, Mo. "We saw a raccoon walking across our front porch," said Tara Sweeney. (Christian Gooden/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)
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People watch from the Liberty Memorial as a severe storm that dropped several tornados earlier approaches downtown Kansas City, Mo., Tuesday, May 28, 2019. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
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In this Tuesday, May 28, 2019 aerial photo, damaged homes and debris mark the path of a tornado in Celina, Ohio. After Mondayâs tornadoes, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine declared a state of emergency in the three counties with the most damage. (Ryan Snyder/Daily Standard via AP)
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In this Tuesday, May 28, 2019 aerial photo, a home west of Celina, Ohio, has had its roof torn off by a tornado that was part of a storm system that passed through Monday night. After Mondayâs tornadoes, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine declared a state of emergency in the three counties with the most damage. (Ryan Snyder/Daily Standard via AP)
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A man passes off a bundle of blue jeans as he tries to collect clothing for his family after being hit by a tornado on Tuesday, May 28, 2019, in a neighborhood south of Lawrence, Kan., near US-59 highway and N. 1000 Road. The past couple of weeks have seen unusually high tornado activity in the U.S., with no immediate end to the pattern in sight. (Chris Neal/The Topeka Capital-Journal via AP)
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