Here's what we know about a strong line of storms that crossed central Ohio Monday night into Tuesday morning.

One fatality has been confirmed in Celina. Mayor Jeff Hazel say seven people were injured and one 81-year-old man was killed in the storms. He said about 40 houses were heavily damaged.

Where did the tornadoes hit?

Central Ohio was pounded by a strong line of storms Monday evening into Tuesday morning that resulted in widespread damage as it passed.

The National Weather Service issued a tornado watch at around 8 p.m. Monday for a large area of eastern Indiana and central Ohio. Not long after, the first tornado warning was issued in eastern Indiana. A hailstorm of tornado warnings – more than 30 – followed, marching inexorably east, mainly tracking along Interstate 70.

The rapid-fire line of apparent tornadoes tore across Indiana and Ohio overnight, packed so closely together that one crossed the path carved by another.

The storms dropped debris and highway crews had to used snowplows to clear Interstate 75.

What is the damage?

Dayton officials said the city was "hit by a series of devastating tornadoes" overnight and rescue workers are getting their first daylight look at the damage. Dayton Fire Chief Jeffrey Payne said so far there are no fatalities in Dayton and a small number of minor injuries, which he said was "miraculous."

Celina, Ohio officials said in a statement that the northwest section of the city "sustained significant damage from a tornado" that passed through the community Monday night at about 10 p.m. City officials said there would be updates once damage was assessed.

Urban Search and Rescue teams from Columbus and Cincinnati are among those that will help in today's search efforts.

Dayton Power and Light reports on its website that more than 50,000 customers are without power following the storms; 41,438 in Montgomery County and 9,354 in Greene County. American Electric Power has reported about 2,400 without power between central and southeastern Ohio. Dayton Power and Light called damage to the Miami Valley “catastrophic,” adding that there are many downed power lines across the region.

That company expects restoring power will take several days.

Dayton's water system is affected, as well. Both of the city's water plants and the system's pumping stations are without power. City Manager Shelley Dickstein said generators were on the way but said there will be a boil advisory for communities served by Dayton Water System.

The power outages have caused a Red Cross shelter at Trotwood High School, where 60 residents were located, to close due to lack of power. The Red Cross said there were more than 135 people in shelters in Dayton, Brookville, Vandalia and Miami County.

The National Weather Service office at Wilmington said it would be conducting surveys in Celina, New Madison, Laura, Dayton, and Laurelville.

More: 'Catastrophic' damage from tornadoes in Ohio causes thousands of people to be without power

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More: Dayton tornadoes: One confirmed death as workers continue building searches and assess damage

More: Forecasters put Cincinnati region on notice after tornado </s> Updated at 9:53 a.m. ET

Several tornadoes touched down in highly populated areas around Dayton, Ohio, and surrounding communities late Monday night, causing catastrophic damage. The city is currently under a boil-water advisory. And while the storms devastated dozens of buildings and trees, only minor injuries have been reported, officials said Tuesday morning.

"Last night about 11:30, tornadoes struck the Dayton area," Dayton Fire Chief Jeffrey Payne said. "However, we have yet to find one fatality, and we have had three minor injuries. I find that pretty miraculous."

Officials in Dayton, Celina and nearby communities are still searching for potential victims, after intense storms wreaked havoc. Suspected tornadoes also left behind destruction in the Indiana town of Pendleton, about 100 miles west of Dayton.

"The first tornado warning went out one minute before 9 p.m. in Wayne County, West of Richmond. The last warning was issued a few minutes before 2 a.m. in Hocking County," member station WYSO reports. "In all, officials issued 36 tornado warnings, one flash flood warning, and recorded multiple instances of golf ball-sized hail in the Dayton area Monday night."

The list of injured people includes some who had to be pulled out of severely damaged buildings, Payne said. He credited the early warning system that informed the public of an impending dangerous tornado system — and he praised residents for following instructions to seek shelter.

Images from the scene show residential neighborhoods that have seemingly been turned into disaster areas. Officials say they're still tallying the number of damaged buildings.

"The sun just came up," Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley said at a news conference Tuesday.

The National Weather Service sent out urgent bulletins overnight, warning that dangerous twisters were causing considerable damage and urging people to stay out of harm's way.

Tornadoes were reported in Mercer, Darke, Miami and Montgomery counties. Search and rescue crews are now combing through the area, including "live find" crews and dogs that can help find victims of the powerful storm, officials said.

Many areas of Dayton were hit hard, fire officials said, along with nearby areas of Troy and Stanley. In addition to trees and power lines, the tornadoes peeled roofs off of houses, brought down businesses' walls and collapsed ceilings.

"Debris being lofted into the air by a tornado south of Circlevile, Ohio," the NWS tweeted just after 1 a.m. ET.

Multiple buildings have collapsed and at least one house has been cut in half, KOCO Meteorologist Michael Armstrong relayed on Twitter. He added that a "¼ mile stretch of power poles broken ... Medics having difficulty accessing areas."

Reports of gas leaks came in all night long, fire officials said Tuesday, adding that with a new day starting, new risks could arise as people turn on their home appliances.

Due to widespread power outages, the city of Dayton is asking residents throughout Montgomery County to conserve water. "We have lost power to both water plants and pump stations," officials said on Twitter. Those plants will rely on generator power until electricity can be restored.

The last large storm to hit Dayton came in 2008, when Hurricane Ike knocked the city into a blackout for about a week. But in that case, its water supply was not affected, officials said Tuesday.

Even before the tornadoes hit, an earlier storm had already raged through the Miami Valley, knocking out power to tens of thousands of residents. Dayton Power and Light reported more than 64,000 customers were without power as of 2:00 a.m. By 7:30 a.m., that figure had dropped to 55,000 of the utility's 520,000 customers.

"We expect this will be a multi-day restoration," DP&L said on Tuesday.

The NWS office in Wilmington, Ohio, estimated that at the worst point, the storms and tornadoes left about 5 million people without power.

From around 11:30 p.m. to 7:30 a.m., Dayton's emergency crews responded to 41 fire reports, Payne said. Police Chief Richard S. Biehl said his department received around 244 calls for service in a slightly shorter time frame, ranging from reports of downed traffic lights to trees blocking roadways.

In some hard-hit neighborhoods, people were trapped in collapsed buildings, the NWS reported. And to reach those storm victims, firefighters and EMTs had to navigate streets that were littered with debris and downed wires.

Photos taken by the Dayton Daily News show cars with the roof caved in by fallen trees or under piles of wood from a destroyed house nearby. Another shows a two story house with one of its walls ripped out. Remnants of commercial buildings, whose brick or cinder block walls have collapsed are also depicted.

The city of Celina, northwest of Dayton, was particularly hard hit. Police are asking people to avoid driving into the city due to live wires and severe damage.

Local school districts have canceled classes after sustaining damage to school buildings.

Emergency crews are still working through a backlog of calls, Payne said. He added that regional task force teams had been activated to help with the effort, bringing crews from Cincinnati and other cities.

Montgomery County Sheriff Rob Streck said "that due to an overwhelming number of calls, the public should not call 911 unless something is sparking or someone is injured or in immediate danger," WDTN 2 News reported.

Debris from the storms blocked parts of I-75, forcing the Ohio Department of Transportation to ask motorists to avoid the interstate. The agency posted photos to Twitter showing snow plows being used to push fallen trees off I-75 north of Dayton.

NWS forecaster David Roth told NPR the violent weather is part of an unusual pattern that has also brought flood worries to Arkansas and Oklahoma where a tornado in El Reno left two people dead on Saturday. Roth said it may take up to a week for the weather pattern to change and return to calmer conditions.

The storms hit Dayton just two days after the city's police were called on to maintain peace during a Ku Klux Klan rally on Saturday.

This is a developing story. Some facts reported by the media may later turn out to be wrong. We will focus on reports from police officials and other authorities, credible news outlets and reporters who are at the scene. We will update as the situation develops. </s> (Reuters) - A tornado pulverized buildings around Dayton, Ohio, early onTuesday, injuring at least 35 people and requiring emergency officials to send out snowplows to clear debris from a major highway, officials and media reports said.

At least two other tornadoes touched down near the city, including one near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, just east of the city, media reports said.

At least 35 people in and around Dayton went to hospitals with injuries, most of them minor, according to Elizabeth Long, a spokeswoman for the Kettering Health Network.

“We’ve had injuries ranging form lacerations to bumps and bruises from folks being thrown around in their houses due to the storms,” she said.

There have been no reports of fatalities.

“We had a great warning system in the area,” Long said.

The latest storm follows tornadoes and floods killed at least six people in Oklahoma during the previous week, including two people in El Reno on Saturday.

More than 60,000 homes and businesses in Ohio were left without power on Monday morning, according to the PowerOutage.US tracking service, and officials advised people to boil water after water plants and pumps went out of service.

The extent damage in Ohio was not clear yet.

“We’re right in the middle of it right now. It’s a mess,” said a phone operator with the Office of Emergency Management in Montgomery County.

Some media outlets reported that rescue workers were going door-to-door in parts of Dayton.

Twitter users posted images of debris flying in the air and damaged mobile homes and cars.

Media images online showed snowplows from the Ohio Department of Transportation clearing debris from U.S. Interstate 75 just north of the city.

The National Weather Service said multiple tornadoes were reported in the Dayton area between 11 p.m. Monday and 1 a.m. Tuesday.

“The storm system is weakening as it pushes into West Virginia and Virginia, but along with the winds, it has dropped about two or three inches 3 inches (5-8 cm)of rain in just two hours,” said Zack Taylor, a meteorologist with the NWS Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland.

Seven people were reported injured in the storm in Pendleton, Indiana, on Monday, about 100 miles (160 km) west of Dayton, according to media reports. More damage was reported in Celina, Ohio, about 78 miles (125 km) north of Dayton.

Flooded areas of Arkansas and Oklahoma were bracing for more rain that will feed the already swollen Arkansas River, forecasters said on Monday. Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri have all activated National Guard units to respond to the storms.

Early on Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump expressed his support for Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt, a Republican. Trump promised support from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Millions of Americans were under flood warnings on the Memorial Day holiday. Deluges hit Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Illinois.

In Tulsa, officials were monitoring the Arkansas River after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers raised the flow at the upriver Keystone Dam by 65% since last week to 275,000 cubic feet per second. The heavier flow is testing two aging levees in Tulsa, the city said.

In Missouri, tornadoes and severe storms killed three people and destroyed or damaged hundreds of homes last week. </s> Multiple destructive tornadoes touched down in a highly populated area near Dayton, Ohio, and surrounding communities, causing catastrophic damage and leaving many trapped by debris.

The National Weather Service reports the dangerous twisters, which began late Monday night, are causing considerable damage and are urging people to take cover immediately.

Tornadoes have been reported in Mercer, Darke, Miami and Montgomery counties. Injuries have been reported.

"Debris being lofted into the air by a tornado south of Circlevile, Ohio," the NWS tweeted just after 1 a.m. ET.

Multiple buildings have collapsed and at least one house has been cut in half, KOCO Meteorologist Michael Armstrong relayed on Twitter. He added that a "¼ mile stretch of power poles broken ... Medics having difficulty accessing areas."

Photos taken by the Dayton Daily News show cars with the roof caved in by fallen trees or under piles of wood from a destroyed house nearby. Another shows a two story house with one of its walls ripped out. Remnants of commercial buildings, whose brick or cinder block walls have collapsed are also depicted.

The NWS is reporting that some people remain trapped in collapsed buildings in several locations in areas where tornadoes have passed. Firefighters and EMTs are having a difficult time reaching emergency locations due to debris in the streets and wires down. And, some emergency calls are going unanswered because crews have not been able to get to them.

The city of Celina, northwest of Dayton, was particularly hard hit. Police are asking people to avoid driving into the city due to live wires and severe damage.

Local school districts have canceled classes after sustaining damage to school buildings.

Montgomery County Sheriff Rob Streck said "that due to an overwhelming number of calls, the public should not call 911 unless something is sparking or someone is injured or in immediate danger," WDTN 2 News reported.

The Ohio Department of transportation is asking locals to avoid I-75 which is blocked by debris. Photos posted to Twitter by ODOT show snow plows trying to clear fallen trees from Interstate 75 north of Dayton. "Please avoid this area while we work to clear the interstate following the storm," the department wrote.

An earlier storm that moved through the Miami Valley knocked out power to tens of thousands of residents. Dayton Power and Light reported more than 64,000 customers were without power as of 2:00 a.m.

Suspected tornadoes also left behind destruction in the Indiana town of Pendleton, about 100 miles west of Dayton.

NWS forecaster David Roth told NPR the violent weather is part of an unusual pattern that has also brought flood worries to Arkansas and Oklahoma where a tornado in El Reno left two people dead on Saturday. Roth said it may take up to a week for the weather pattern to change and return to calmer conditions.

This is a developing story. Some facts reported by the media may later turn out to be wrong. We will focus on reports from police officials and other authorities, credible news outlets and reporters who are at the scene. We will update as the situation develops. </s> Brookville chief Doug Jerome said Tuesday that at least half the homes in a single subdivision sustained serious damage. But Jerome says no fatalities were reported in the city, which is about 20 miles (32 kilometres) northwest of Dayton, and only three minor injuries.

Jerome said the storm took off part of the roof at Brookville High School, tossed some cars into houses and ripped up numerous large trees.

A series of apparent tornadoes caused extensive damage in Dayton and communities north and northwest of the city, and also destroyed homes in Indiana.

Actor Rob Lowe, a Dayton native, tweeted "Praying for my hometown" on Tuesday.

Authorities in Dayton, Ohio, say a series of apparent tornadoes caused a few minor injuries but no reported fatalities within the city.

Dayton Fire Chief Jeffrey Payne called that "pretty miraculous" during a Tuesday morning briefing. Payne attributed the good news to people heeding early warnings about the storm.

Residents say sirens started going off around 10:30 p.m. Monday ahead of the storm.

Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley urged residents to check on neighbours, especially those who are housebound.

Dayton City Manager Shelley Dickstein says a boil advisory has been issued for residents after the storms cut power to Dayton's pump stations. She says generators are being rushed in.

The storms caused severe damage in communities northwest of Dayton, where officials were still assessing damage, and also damaged at least 75 homes in Indiana.

The president has tweeted his support for tornado survivors in Oklahoma, where two people were killed and 29 were injured by a twister that struck a motel and mobile home park over the weekend.

Donald Trump tweeted Tuesday morning that he spoke with Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt from Japan and told him that the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the "federal government are fully behind him and the great people of Oklahoma."

Emergency crews are going door-to-door checking homes in Indiana after damaging storms spawned apparent tornadoes in the state and in Ohio.

Madison County Emergency Management spokesman Todd Harmeson says least 75 homes were damaged in Pendleton and the nearby community of Huntsville. No serious injuries were reported in the area or other parts of the state where possible tornadoes hit Monday night.

Madison County authorities say roads in Pendleton, about 35 miles (56 kilometres) northeast of Indianapolis, are blocked with trees, downed power lines and utility poles. Pendleton High School is open as a shelter.

The National Weather Service says a survey team will investigate damage in Madison County and possibly in Henry County. Another team may survey damage in Tippecanoe County.

The energy company serving the Dayton, Ohio, area says at least 64,000 customers are without power following a series of apparent tornadoes.

Dayton Power & Light said in a tweet early Tuesday it was undertaking a "multi-day restoration effort" and urged customers to make emergency backup plans.

The National Weather Service reported earlier more than 70,000 outages across Ohio, affecting more than 5 million people.

The service confirmed Monday night that a "large and dangerous tornado" hit near Trotwood, Ohio, outside of Dayton.

The storm tore roofs off several apartment buildings in Trotwood.

Multiple schools are closed or starting late around Dayton following the storm damage.

The National Weather Service says there are more 70,000 power outages across the state of Ohio, affecting over 5 million people.

The service tweeted Tuesday morning that to send reports of outages via social media or email if possible.

It also says the tornado threat has "exited our area of responsibility."

The service confirmed Monday night that a "large and dangerous tornado" hit near Trotwood, Ohio, outside of Dayton. ___

An Indiana town was heavily damaged by storms, including reports of two tornados.

WRTV-TV reports that Madison County Emergency Management spokesman Todd Harmeson said Tuesday morning that, "We do not know at this time if this was a tornado, straight-line winds or what the cause was" of damage in Pendleton. He says there are several videos floating around that show funnel clouds but that the National Weather Service will make that determination.

Harmeson says residents should stay indoors due to energized downed powerlines on the ground. "We just believe at this time it is not safe," he said. He says an estimated 4,000 people are without power.

Pendleton residents being evacuated can go to the Pendleton High School cafeteria for shelter.

The Ohio Department of Transportation is using snow plows to remove debris off an Ohio highway after a "large and dangerous" tornado hit the area late Monday.

Transportation spokesman Matt Bruning said its crews are using several plows to scrape debris off to the side of southbound Interstate 75, trying to get the highway reopened as soon as possible. "We'll do a more thorough cleaning after we get lanes opened," he told the Associated Press via text early Tuesday. He said tow trucks eventually will have to deal with damaged vehicles along the roadway, too. He said other crews are also clearing debris northwest of Dayton in Mercer and Darke counties. Trying to clear the debris in the middle of the night is a difficult task, complicated by darkness and downed power lines, Bruning said.

The National Weather Service confirmed Monday night that a "large and dangerous tornado" hit near Trotwood, Ohio, outside of Dayton.

This story has been corrected to show the tornado struck Ohio on Monday night, not Sunday.

By The Associated Press </s> (Reuters) - A tornado slammed into the U.S. city of Dayton, Ohio, on Monday and severe storms were forecast to pound the area overnight, officials and media reports said.

At least two other tornadoes touched down near the city, including one near Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, just east of Dayton, media reports said.

The latest storm comes after tornadoes and floods killed at least six people in Oklahoma over the weekend, including two people in El Reno, near the state capital, on Saturday.

The extent of injuries and damage in Ohio wasn't clear yet.

"We're right in the middle of it right now. It's a mess," said a phone operator with the Office of Emergency Management in Montgomery County.

Another Emergency Management official said that they were working with the American Red Cross early on Tuesday to set up at least four shelters in the area for any displaced residents.

Some media outlets reported that rescue workers were going door-to-door in parts of Dayton. Police and sheriff's departments were not immediately available for comment.

Twitter users posted images of debris flying in the air and damaged mobile homes and cars.

Media images online showed snowplows from the Ohio Department of Transportation clearing debris from U.S. Interstate 75 just north of the city.

More than 75,000 homes and businesses were without power early on Tuesday, according to the tracking site PowerOutage.US.

The National Weather Service said multiple tornadoes were reported in the Dayton area between 11 p.m. Monday and 1 a.m. Tuesday.

"We'll have to get survey crews on the ground in the morning to confirm the severity of the storms, but yes, there is at least one tornado touch-down in the city," said Zack Taylor, a meteorologist with the NWS Weather Prediction Center in College Park, Maryland.

"The storm system is weakening as it pushes into West Virginia and Virginia, but along with the winds, it has dropped about two or three inches of rain in just two hours," he said.

Seven people were reported injured in the storm in Pendleton, Indiana, on Monday, about 100 miles west of Dayton, according to media reports, including CNN. More damage was reported in Celina, Ohio, about 78 miles north of Dayton.

Flooded areas of Arkansas and Oklahoma were bracing for more rain that will feed the already swollen Arkansas River, forecasters said on Monday. Arkansas, Oklahoma and Missouri have all activated National Guard units to respond to the storms.

Early on Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted his support for Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt, a Republican, and for those who suffered from storm damage in Oklahoma. Trump promised support from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

"Told him that @fema and the federal government are fully behind him and the great people of Oklahoma," Trump said on Twitter.

Millions of Americans were under flood warnings on the Memorial Day holiday. Deluges hit Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Illinois.

In Tulsa, officials were monitoring the Arkansas River after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers raised the flow at the upriver Keystone Dam by 65% since last week to 275,000 cubic feet per second. The heavier flow is testing two aging levees in Tulsa, the city said.

In Missouri, tornadoes and severe storms killed three people and destroyed or damaged hundreds of homes last week. </s> A swarm of apparent tornadoes so tightly packed that one crossed the path carved by another tore across Indiana and Ohio overnight, smashing homes and blowing out windows. One person was killed and dozens were injured.

The storms were among 52 twisters that forecasters said may have touched down Monday across eight states stretching eastward from Idaho and Colorado.

The winds knocked homes off their foundations, toppled trees and hurled so much debris that it could be seen on radar, and highway crews had to use snowplows to clear an interstate.

Some of the heaviest damage was reported just outside Dayton, Ohio.

"I just got down on all fours and covered my head with my hands," said Francis Dutmers, who with his wife headed for the basement of their home in Vandalia, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) outside Dayton, when the storm hit with a "very loud roar" Monday night. The winds blew out windows around his house, filled rooms with debris and took down most of his trees.

In Celina, Ohio, 81-year-old Melvin Dale Hannah was killed when winds blew a parked car into his house, Mayor Jeffrey Hazel said Tuesday.

"There's areas that truly look like a war zone," Hazel said.

Storm reports posted online by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Storm Prediction Center showed that 14 suspected tornadoes touched down in Indiana, 10 in Colorado and nine in Ohio. Six suspected tornadoes were reported in Iowa, five in Nebraska, four in Illinois, three in Minnesota and one in Idaho.

Thunderstorms that spun off the Colorado tornadoes dropped hail as large as tennis balls, with pea-size hail reported in the Denver area.

A large tornado struck near Trotwood, Ohio, eight miles (12 kilometers) from Dayton, and Mayor Mary McDonald reported "catastrophic damage" in the community of 24,500 people. Several apartment buildings were damaged or destroyed, including one complex where the entire roof was torn away, and at least three dozen people were treated at emergency rooms for cuts, bumps and bruises.

The mayor said five busloads of displaced residents were taken to a church that opened as a shelter.

Just before midnight, about 40 minutes after that tornado cut through, the weather service tweeted that another one was crossing its path, churning up enough debris to be visible on radar.

In Brookville, west of Dayton, the storm tore roofs off schools, destroyed a barn and heavily damaged houses.

In Dayton, only a few minor injuries were reported. Dayton Fire Chief Jeffrey Payne called that "pretty miraculous," attributing the good news to people heeding early warnings about the storm. Residents said sirens started going off around 10:30 p.m. ahead of the storm.

Mayor Nan Whaley urged people to check on their neighbors, especially those who are housebound. A boil-water advisory was issued after the storms knocked out power to Dayton's pump stations, and Dayton Power & Light said 64,000 customers were without electricity.

Many roads in the Dayton area were impassable. A high school gymnasium in Dayton was designated an emergency shelter until authorities realized it was unusable.

In Indiana, at least 75 homes were damaged in Pendleton and nearby Huntsville, said Madison County Emergency Management spokesman Todd Harmeson. No serious injuries were reported.

Residents in Pendleton, about 35 miles (56 kilometers) northeast of Indianapolis, were urged to stay in their homes Tuesday morning because of downed trees, power lines and utility poles.

"People are getting antsy. I know they want to get outdoors, and I know they want to see what's going on in the neighborhood, but we still have power lines down, we still have hazards out there," Harmeson said.

Associated Press writers Dan Sewell and Amanda Seitz in Cincinnati, David Runk in Detroit and Andrew Welsh-Huggins in Columbus, Ohio, contributed. Franko reported from Columbus. </s> The National Weather Service confirmed that multiple tornadoes, including one described as “large and destructive,” touched down near Dayton, Ohio, late Monday, reportedly injuring at least several people, leaving around 5 million people without power across the state and causing extensive damage to homes, businesses and roads at the end of Memorial Day.

Mayor Mary McDonald of Trotwood, Ohio, located about eight miles northwest of Dayton, told local outlets that there are several injuries in the area, with some people being hospitalized as a result of the tornado’s devastation. She added that there were no fatalities as of early Tuesday and that the extent of those reported injuries was unclear. WHIO reported that Trotwood ordered those in need of shelter to be bused to nearby Red Cross shelters. She said on Facebook that power lines and trees were down throughout Trotwood, a city of 25,000 residents.

At 11 p.m. Monday, the National Weather Service of Wilmington, Ohio, confirmed the tornadoes were on the ground near Trotwood, describing the natural disaster as an “EXTREMELY DANGEROUS SITUATION” and “A LIFE THREATENING SITUATION!” The National Weather Service said the tornadoes took place about 30 minutes apart and affected at least a half-dozen communities in Ohio and eastern Indiana. Authorities announced early Tuesday that the National Guard was being deployed to the area. The Ohio Department of Transportation said that crews were using snowplows to help clean up debris that was covering Interstate-75 north of downtown Dayton. While there are no remaining tornado warnings, there are active flood warnings until early Tuesday.

Early Tuesday, the National Weather Service said the tornado caused more than 70,000 power outages, affecting about 5 million people throughout Ohio. In Dayton, the city’s utility said that almost 60,000 customers were without power, accounting for more than 88 percent of the area. The utility said it expects a multiday restoration effort, with the National Weather Service adding that it “will be conducting damage surveys for the next few days.” Dayton city officials asked residents to conserve water, as the area had lost power to both water plants and pump stations.

“First Responders are performing search and rescue operations and debris clearing,” the city tweeted.

Among the most affected areas most affected the most were Miami, Montgomery and Greene Counties, which includes Dayton, the sixth-most populous city in the state. In Mercer County, about 80 miles from Dayton, officials told NBC News that at least seven people had been hospitalized. Montgomery County Sheriff Rob Streck said that his office has received “an overwhelming number of calls” and that “the public should not call 911 unless something is sparking or someone is injured or in immediate danger,” WDTN reported. In Beavercreek, a Dayton suburb, there was a mandatory evacuation within the subdivisions, according to WHIO. In the town of Celina, Mayor Jeffrey Hazel told WDTN that some of the areas looked “like a war zone.”

“Some of the houses were completely moved off their foundations and gone,” he said.

Local outlets highlighted how homes, apartment complexes, schools and businesses had become debris following the tornado. Trees had been uprooted. The roof of a high school in Brookville, Ohio, was ripped off. The town’s firehouse, home to first responders in the area, had its garage completely ripped off the building. The Action Sports Center, a 30,000-square-foot indoor complex in Dayton housing two full-sized soccer fields, was left in ruins.

“It’s a complete loss, no way around it,” one of the owners told WHIO. “It’s unsalvageable.”

On social media, residents shared photos and videos of the destruction throughout southwestern Ohio. Tenley Taghi was in tears as she filmed what was left of her family’s home. Taghi, who said there were no sirens before the tornado hit, told WDTN that a light pole fell through her home and injured her father, who was pulled out by firefighters. Taghi was left in tears and disbelief seeing what had happened to her home, saying repeatedly in her video, “Our house is gone. Oh my God.”

“I saw the clouds spin backwards and the trees began to sway uncontrollably and we took shelter,” she told WDTN. “I was standing on the porch that is no longer standing. We took shelter right as the storm hit.”

In a message to The Washington Post, Taghi said she was all right but remained understandably shook up.

Residents in the Dayton area, as well as their family and friends, shared videos and photos of the storm as it was unfolding. Others were still trying to wrap their heads around the catastrophic damage caused to their communities.

As residents began to come outside to assess the damage, they began recounting their experiences.

“It was shaking and we covered for shelter,” Dwayne Chastain Jr. tweeted. “Pray for my city. It’s pitch black out here.”

Nathan Mann of Trotwood told WDTN that he took cover once he heard the sirens in his area, proceeding to his basement. He compared the scene Monday night to something “out of a movie.” He said he pretty much tied himself to a pole, “and hoped to God that nothing would hurt me.” He texted his wife, thinking that he was going to die.

“It felt like someone picked my house up and set it back down,” he said. “When it was over, I couldn’t believe what I saw.” </s> A swarm of tornadoes tore through parts of Ohio and Indiana Monday night, with significant damage done just outside Dayton, Ohio. Power is still out for many and water must be boiled.
Multiple destructive tornadoes strike Dayton, Ohio, and surrounding communities. There was at least one known fatality in Celina. Multiple homes and businesses were destroyed, with reports of numerous power outages and a boil and water conservation advisory issued for Dayton.