Tornado pushes car into home, killing Celina man as he slept

TONIGHT. WHAT ARE YOU SEEING IN THAT AREA? >> I CAN TELL YOU THAT THIS IS THE HOME OF MELVIN DALE HANNAH. AUTHORITIES SAY THAT HE WAS SLEEPING IN HIS ROOM. UNDERNEATH THE DEBRIS IT’S HARD TO TELL THAT YOU CAN SEE THE TOP OF A CAR, A CAR BLEW INTO THE SIDE OF THE HOUSE AS HE SLEPT. CHECK THIS OUT, THE HOME NEXT DOOR TO HIM RIGHT HERE, IT FLEW COMPLETELY OFF THE FOUNDATION. THE HOUSE LANDED THERE IN THE FIELD. >> OUR HEARTS GO OUT TO THAT FAMILY, BUT LOOKING AT -- LOOKING AT THE DEVASTATION, I’M GRATEFUL I’M NOT WRITING A LOT OF FUNERALS THIS WEEK. >> WE HAD ONE NEIGHBOR WHO WAS TRAPPED IN AND WE ENDED UP GETTING HER OUT JUST SECONDS BEFORE HER CEILING COLLAPSED SO SHE WAS FORTUNATE. ACTUALLY WHOLE BACK OF THE HOUSE IS GONE. NEIGHBORS SAID THEY CAN’T GET TO HER SO I JUST ENDED UP GOING THROUGH THE BACK, OVER THE WAL , WHATEVER WAS LAYING, FOUND HER IN THE FRONT BY THE BEDROOM. WATER OUT THE HALLWAY TO THE FRONT DOOR WHICH WAS CLEAR AND WE WALKED UP, LIKE I SAID JUST SECONDS BEFORE THE CEILING COLLAPSED. SO. >> WE WERE TRACKING THE STORMS AS THEY CAME THROUGH. GOT THE ALERTS AND THE SIRENS AND KNEW ENOUGH TO GO TO THE BASEMENT. THAT KEPT US HERE. >> MANY PEOPLE THAT I’VE TALKED TO HERE IN TOWN, I’VE ASKED THEM HOW THEY SURVIVED BC THE HOUSES ARE SO OBLITERATED. THEY’RE TELLING ME THEY WERE IN THEIR BASEMENTS. THEY GOT THE WARNING A HEAD OF TIME -- AHEAD OF TIME. >> ANOTHER UNBELIEVABLE STORY COMING FROM JUST TWO DOORS DOWN FROM WHERE THE MAN THAT WAS KILLED THAT LIVED. AN 83-YEAR-OLD WOMAN LIVES IN THE HOUSE. I SPOKE WITH HER SON A SHORT TIME AGO. SHE SAID SHE NEVER MADE IT TO THE BASEMENT BUT WAS TOSSED AGAINST THE WALL, HOSPITALIZED, BRUISES TO HER FACE. WE SAW HER WALKING. A SITE THAT BROKE THE HEART, YOU COULD SEE THAT SHE WAS SHAKING, LOOKING AT EVERYTHING THAT SHE SPENT SO ANY YEARS BUILDING A LIFE HERE, JUST DESTROYED TONIGHT. SHE WAS OK AND WAS JUST RELEASED FROM THE HOSPITAL. MIKE: I KNOW YOU SPOKE WITH THE EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT DIRECTOR OUT THERE. WHAT IS HE SAYING ABOUT THE TORNADO ITSELF? >> HE WAS OUT HERE A SHORT TIME AGO ASSESSING THE DAMAGE, SAYING THAT AT

An 81-year-old man was killed overnight when a tornado blew a parked car into his Celina, Ohio home as he slept.Melvin Dale Hannah was killed in the overnight hours as an EF-3 tornado touched down along Fairground Road.According to Celina Mayor Jeff Hazel, Hannah was asleep when winds lifted a parked car and pushed it into the home, killing the 81-year-old man inside.Hannah is the only confirmed death after an outbreak of tornadoes across Ohio and Indiana from Monday night into Tuesday morning.Along the street where Hannah lived, not a single home was left untouched by the massive tornado.Next door to Hannah's house, a home was blown entirely off of its foundation and into a field about 100 yards away. Debris cluttered the street Tuesday afternoon as homeowners in the area attempted to rebuild."We were tracking the storms as they came through, got the alerts and the sirens and knew enough to go to the basement, and that kept us here," said Rob Snyder. "Got down there and heard a very shrill, loud, screaming wind like you've never heard before, like I've never heard before, and it sounded like huge hail, and I knew that was debris, and the next thing you knew there were some small, big explosions, and one final one, and it all went away in an instant, and the rain started pouring in on us in the basement and, yeah, it was quite a loss, but we're alive, and we're moving forward.""Our hearts go out to that family but looking at the devastation, I'm grateful I'm not writing a lot of funerals this week," said Pastor Craig Flack, with Celina First Church of God. Two doors down from where Hannah died, authorities said an 83-year-old woman was injured. She was taken to an area hospital, but was released -- and is walking -- as of Tuesday afternoon."I believe she was in the back hallway and this part of the house is the kitchen so this got the brunt of the force here and she said she was knocked against the wall and that's about all she remembers," said her son, Terry Becksted. "She said it was only by the grace of God that she's alive."The tornado in Celina is one of five confirmed by the National Weather Service in the state of Ohio. Two additional EF-3 tornadoes touched down in Beavercreek and Trotwood. Two other tornadoes touched down in Pickaway County -- one just south of Circleville and a second southeast of Pickaway. These tornadoes are yet to be classified.All of the five storms remain under investigation.

CELINA, Ohio —

An 81-year-old man was killed overnight when a tornado blew a parked car into his Celina, Ohio home as he slept.

Melvin Dale Hannah was killed in the overnight hours as an EF-3 tornado touched down along Fairground Road.

According to Celina Mayor Jeff Hazel, Hannah was asleep when winds lifted a parked car and pushed it into the home, killing the 81-year-old man inside.

Hannah is the only confirmed death after an outbreak of tornadoes across Ohio and Indiana from Monday night into Tuesday morning.

Along the street where Hannah lived, not a single home was left untouched by the massive tornado.

Next door to Hannah's house, a home was blown entirely off of its foundation and into a field about 100 yards away.

Debris cluttered the street Tuesday afternoon as homeowners in the area attempted to rebuild.

"We were tracking the storms as they came through, got the alerts and the sirens and knew enough to go to the basement, and that kept us here," said Rob Snyder. "Got down there and heard a very shrill, loud, screaming wind like you've never heard before, like I've never heard before, and it sounded like huge hail, and I knew that was debris, and the next thing you knew there were some small, big explosions, and one final one, and it all went away in an instant, and the rain started pouring in on us in the basement and, yeah, it was quite a loss, but we're alive, and we're moving forward."

"Our hearts go out to that family but looking at the devastation, I'm grateful I'm not writing a lot of funerals this week," said Pastor Craig Flack, with Celina First Church of God.

Two doors down from where Hannah died, authorities said an 83-year-old woman was injured. She was taken to an area hospital, but was released -- and is walking -- as of Tuesday afternoon.

"I believe she was in the back hallway and this part of the house is the kitchen so this got the brunt of the force here and she said she was knocked against the wall and that's about all she remembers," said her son, Terry Becksted. "She said it was only by the grace of God that she's alive."

The tornado in Celina is one of five confirmed by the National Weather Service in the state of Ohio. Two additional EF-3 tornadoes touched down in Beavercreek and Trotwood.

Two other tornadoes touched down in Pickaway County -- one just south of Circleville and a second southeast of Pickaway. These tornadoes are yet to be classified.

All of the five storms remain under investigation.

Tornado pushes car into home, killing Celina man as he slept

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