“I was going down Five Point Road the night this happened. We [couldn't] get through to help out. The next morning I went back to see the damage and found out how many had passed away the night before. My heart fell to the floor.”
-Pattyann Hobbs“Working in a 911 comm center, keeping a good eye on radar returns. I remember seeing that ‘hook echo' and thinking how people's lives were about to change forever.”
-Steve Lafferty
“Right in the center of it all in Millbury. I will never forget. We all made it out alive. One of the men that lost his life was only three houses down. There was no basement where we were. So thankful we all survived. Worst noise I have ever heard. RIP to the seven souls lost.”
-Shannon Marie
“I was getting married at Oak Openings Park and the celebration was cut short thanks to the park ranger. We were able to wrap up and get out before the tornado hit and left a path around the lodge!”
-Angel Edgar
“We were in our basement in Millbury. We were watching the news, picking up items in case the power went out and the basement flooded. Then my daughter, with a look of terror on her face said, ‘I hear something.' My son, said, ‘I hear a jet.' At that I said, ‘You don't hear jets in the basement, it's coming!' We all huddled in a pile on the floor under blankets, my husband jumped on top of us and said that our house was shaking and that he thought we just lost our house. That thing had the worst roar I have ever heard in my life, and I hope I never hear again. We were fortunate and had only very minor damage from debris, but when we finally came upstairs, we discovered that our friends and neighbors were not so fortunate, and that some of their homes and family members were gone.”
-Angie Fisher
“Stepped outside on my mom's porch on CO RD 7 and seen it come up over the trees. Had to get myself, my mom, my two kids, my mom's two dogs, but had to leave my dog outside. It was shooting green lightning out, could see stuff fly out as soon as it was sucked in. I was driving to get away and it started to lift the car. Thankfully got to my grandma's house, and I could see it going down CO RD B. I'll never forget that nor do I ever want to see that again. When I came home my dog Fred was safe and sound!!! Praise God!!! He is spoiled more than he was before! Very sad for the people who lost their lives and property.”
-Brenda Silveous
“We had just moved from Walbridge two months before. My daughter who graduated in 2008 from Lake was at graduation parties in Lake Township. The weather had turned bad so she and her best friend left for her house. The sirens went off so they took cover in a hallway as there was no basement or anything. My daughter heard the roar and when she looked out a window from where she was hiding she could see the tornado pass over the house she was in. She could hear the awful noises as the tornado was destroying people's homes and their lives. The rest of us were here at home in Toledo when we heard on the radio there was a tornado. I remember like it was yesterday, my sons were in their room with a friend when a cell phone rang and I'll never forget when they hollered out, ‘Our school is gone, it took out our school!' I have chills just writing it. It seemed like forever when I got a text saying that my daughter was okay. My daughter still has some PTSD from that night, it was a very long time, years before she could be in the dark and not freak out, sudden noises sent her into a panic attack. To this day she gets anxiety when the sirens go off.”
-Kelly Reigle
“We lived in Millbury. The warning came over my phone – thank you WTOL for that. I looked at the radar on the site, changed the TV channel to WTOL, saw that thing on radar and noticed it was heading right for us. Woke my husband up and grabbed our fur babies and headed to the basement. We heard it coming. The cat ran upstairs so we had to get her. When we looked out the window, lightning bolts lit that thing up. Between that and the power lines, we saw it pretty good. I hope I never see something like that again!! It was so big, there was another small one behind it, like it was chasing it. We got kitty and went back into the man cave. I'll never forget that awful sound.”
-Barbara Wright
“Calling my mom that night, probably the exact time it hit her house, flattened her entire house and the entire family survived but the family across the street did not, except the little girl. It was a sad day to see how injured they were when I went to the hospital, but they were so blessed to have survived especially with being in the actual spinning tornado. I'm sad for those who lost their lives and the families but grateful that I don't have to pay remembrance to my family.”
-Estrella Yonca Ledesma
“My daughter's home was destroyed. Her, her husband and three kids didn't have time to make it to their basement so they huddled at the end of their hallway and finally made it into a walk-in closet. When it was all over, the closet was the only thing standing. We give thanks to God Almighty each and every day. My daughter was almost seven months pregnant.”
-Gloria Hayes Kutchenriter
“Our cat Tornado was pulled from under a demolished house almost two weeks after the Lake Township tornado. My mom was boarding her cat, and when she went to pick up hers, this poor scared little thing was there. Mom called me and we took her in. As a Lake graduate, she is very special to me for surviving what destroyed my school! I remember crying like a baby when I heard the news.”
-Jen
