Document from Winchester tornado found 35 miles away in Ohio
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Now that the tornado track in Randolph County has been finalized, we are beginning to hear stories of documents and debris found miles away from where they originated.
The EF3 tornado that caused damage in Selma and Winchester, Indiana, on Thursday had estimated winds near 165 mph, making it a strong EF3 tornado just one mile per hour away from the 166 mph wind speed needed to make the EF4 classification.
The twister crossed the state line into Ohio and was on the ground for almost 50 miles, or about 90 minutes. The tornado picked up debris and transported it more than 30 miles into Ohio, where people are finding it and posting about it on social media.
Karla Evans in Houston, Ohio, about 35 miles away from Winchester, found a document from the Randolph County Community Economic Development Foundation. The document was in a plastic sleeve and looks like a memo from 2009 talking about spam and email etiquette.
Karla posted the photo on the Wilmington National Weather Service Facebook page. Another resident in Houston, Ohio, posted about debris and other materials in the yard. A neighbor found documents and even pages from a hymnal belonging to someone from Winchester.
News 8 has reached out to the person who signed the Randolph County document but had not heard back by Tuesday morning.
Winchester tornado’s high winds created path from Indiana into Ohio
The exact path of damage from this tornado spanned about 49 miles. The strongest winds were near Winchester, where it was rated EF3. The tornado did drop to an EF2 with winds near 120 mph when it moved into Darke County, Ohio.
Houston is located about 30 miles north of Dayton, Ohio, in Shelby County, which is about 35 miles east of Winchester. The tornado ended just a little north of Covington, which is in Miami County, Ohio. The paper from Randolph County was found about 7 miles north of where the tornado track ended.
Thursday’s tornadoes has brought the tally for the state up to five, the strongest being the EF3 in Winchester. This was the strongest tornado to hit Randolph County in 38 years.
Click here for info on how to help Hoosiers affected by the Selma-Winchester tornado.