TOLEDO, Ohio — Five days after a tornado tore through Point Place, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine visited the neighborhood to get a first-hand look at the damage.
DeWine flew into Toledo by helicopter and said he saw a lot of blue tarps on roofs in the area where an EF-2 tornado touched down during storms on Thursday.
The governor mentioned how proud he is that the community has been coming together to help each other out. He said that even though it has only been five days since the tornadoes hit, a lot of progress has been made. But there's still a long way to go.
He said he made the trip so he could talk to people and hear exactly what they are dealing with. Like many residents, DeWine also questioned why the National Weather Service did not issue a tornado warning until after the tornado had already hit.
"We didn't get it (an early warning) here and I guess the question the community has a right to know is 'why not?'" DeWine said. "I'm not saying anyone did anything wrong or did anything bad, but the weather service really owes us, I think, a really full explanation."
Because of the lack of warning from the weather service, by the time the Lucas County Emergency Management Agency sounded the sirens, the EF-2 tornado had already landed in Point Place.
DeWine's plan is to confer with his team in Columbus and see what resources may be available to help northwest Ohio with the ongoing recovery.
If there’s something that we can do in working with the legislature, that’s a possibility," DeWine said. "So, I don’t know what we can do, but I think we’ve got a pretty good feel today for what the needs are."