HILLIARD, Ohio — Tom Schick walked outside of his Hilliard home Wednesday morning and saw the destruction left behind by an EF1 tornado.
"It was like someone dropped a bomb on my yard," Schick said.
The tornado ripped seven trees out of the ground in his backyard and damaged several others.
"I planted these when we first moved in 37 years ago and I was surrounded by trees and now I am totally exposed," Schick said.
Schick was in his basement with his wife, Carol, when the devastation hit.
“We could hear the windows upstairs literally bellowing and we heard a large pop and then that is when all the trees started going down and that is when the chaos started and when you walked outside you couldn't believe the devastation," Schick said.
The Hilliard Division of Police reported one home in the city was destroyed and two others were significantly damaged.
On Schick’s street, north of Roberts Road, nearly every house was damaged in some way by the storm.
Blue tarp sits atop many roofs, siding and chimneys have been ripped off of homes and the garages of several homes have been boarded up.
The National Weather Service reported winds reached up to 110 mph.
“We are lucky to be alive. We are lucky it was only this amount of damage and life goes on. You just regroup,” Schick said.
To read the preliminary report on Hilliard's tornado, click here.
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