Although several tornadoes were confirmed in nearby counties early Saturday morning, no storm damage was reported in Fayette County, according to authorities.
The National Weather Service in Wilmington confirmed six tornadoes from a single super-cell thunderstorm which produced 12 total tornadoes across three states (Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania), traveling over 300 miles and spanning nine hours. The most significant tornado that hit Ohio — which was rated as 2 on the Enhanced Fujita or EF scale — struck near the village of South Salem in Ross County.
“We haven’t received any reports of damage in our county,” said Fayette County Sheriff Vernon Stanforth. “We had a storm come through the southern part of the county before the tornadoes hit in nearby counties. But fortunately, we didn’t have any reports of tornadoes or storm damage here.”
Two tornadoes touched down in Highland County — the first of which started near the intersection of Danville and Roush roads. Numerous trees were damaged on the west side of Danville Road along with some minor damage to a home, according to the National Weather Service. The tornado then crossed Danville and headed east down Roush Road.
The strongest damage was found at a residence on the north side of Roush, where an outbuilding sustained roof damage. Multiple trees at the same property were also damaged or uprooted. The circulation of the tornado weakened as it continued east along Roush and eventually dissipated east of Kesler Road.
The second tornado in Highland County began east of US 62, north of Hillsboro and consisted of uprooted trees and large snapped tree limbs. The first structural damage was observed north of Selph Road near Lewis Lane, according to the National Weather Service, where a large portion of roof covering was removed from an outbuilding. Additional tree damage was observed along Lewis Lane.
A structure on the east side of Kincaid Road sustained side wall damage associated with a garage door failure. Further south along Kincaid Road, a considerable amount of trees were snapped and uprooted consistent with straight-line winds. The tornado continued east, crossing State Route 138 causing tree damage and additional minor structure damage.
The most intense damage occurred along Morrow Road. Numerous trees were snapped and uprooted, and several outbuildings received considerable damage. The tornado weakened quickly with the final observed damage near Fall Creek.
No injuries were reported from the tornadoes in Highland County, according to authorities.
