PATASKALA, Ohio — Pataskala residents are picking up the pieces after a tornado hit the area Wednesday morning, causing significant damage to multiple homes.
The National Weather Service confirmed an EF2 tornado touched down in Blacklick and traveled into Jersey, a small town in Licking County.
There's not a single home on Graham Road between Summit and Mink streets that doesn't have some kind of damage.
“We don't have a basement. It was very scary. It does sound like a train. We were scared,” said Pataskala resident Brenda Malone.
Around 6 a.m., Malone and her son huddled in a hallway with blankets protecting them.
“I heard the trees coming down and hitting the back side of my house. I was so afraid all the windows were going to burst. I just kept praying that my roof would not get sucked up. It was so loud, I was afraid everything was going to be wide open,” Malone said.
Jeff DeBord described what it felt like when the storm passed through. “A freight train. The house shook and it just felt like you were going to come apart. It was bad.”
A tree now rests on top of DeBord's home and his barn in the back is completely gone.
“I'm heartbroken over this. That was my high barn. I think it was 12 feet high and 28 feet long. That was my workshop. It is gone,” DeBord said.
Just down the street, Cameron Peugh woke up everyone in his house, trying to get them to safety.
“I started basically yelling at everybody to get into the basement. We didn't make it fully into the basement before the trees and stuff started falling. I'm sure one of the sounds we heard was the hole being blown into the roof,” Peugh said.
After the storm blew through, they found extensive damage, including a hole in their roof.
“I'm surprised. You see scenes like this on the national news from Nebraska and Oklahoma. Not central Ohio in February,” said Lisa Howard.
Despite the damage, Howard is keeping a positive attitude
“I'm a scrapbooker, it will be a scrapbook,” she said.
The neighbors say they can fix all the damage. They are all glad no one was hurt.
“Old trees, with holes like this now. It does break my heart because I had a beautiful yard and I loved sitting on my deck and watching my birds. I won’t be able to do that now. But we are alive and my house is still standing. I'm counting my blessings,” Malone said.