(WKBN) - The National Weather Service out of Cleveland confirmed Thursday that an EF0 tornado formed in Champion and Southington during severe storms Wednesday.
The tornado’s wind speed peaked at 80 miles per hour with a path of 2.96 miles and 20 yards wide. NWS says the tornado formed about 7:01 p.m. and touched down near State Route 305, east of Hoffman Norton Road.
William Nasonti made it inside just in the nick of time. He was outside his home on Oak Hill Drive in Champion watching the storm when he saw rotation starting to form.
Photo Gallery: Wednesday storm photos
"I made it like 30 feet into the house and just heard six seconds of horror," he said. "I wanted to watch it go by, but I didn't want it to drop down on my head. It was like a movie."
Tree limbs were thrown around and some trees were uprooted or sheered. Paige Hites was on the phone with her husband when the tornado warning went off.
"Within seconds he was like, 'Oh no. Kids, in the basement, now.' I heard a bunch of wrestling on the phone. I heard my daughter crying," Hites said.
The damage outside was pretty bad.
"All I could see was trees down and the garage smashed. You couldn't even see his truck last night because all the branches were in front of it," Hites said. "It was a lifted truck. It's not lifted anymore."
In the midst of the damage, the Hites see a silver lining. The family just finished an addition to their home and was in the process of putting the finishing touches on a new upstairs.
"We saved money for the last 10 years so we could have a bigger upstairs for us and our kids," Hites said.
Had it been done, the tree that destroyed the vehicle and garage would have also smashed right through her son's new bedroom window.
"I've been nagging at my husband that we need to get it done. But now, I am happy that it wasn't done yet," Hites said.
It's got the family appreciating what's really important in life while insurance adjustors assess the real damage.
"I'm happy nobody got hurt. Things can be replaced, people can't," Hites said.
"No injuries, so that's the key that nobody got hurt,' said Trumbull County EMA Director John Hickey.
"It's a lot of cleanup. A lot of fixing but again, we're OK," Nasonti said.
