Van Wert 2002 Tornado

[estinence]

I live in Lima and I remember this day. We were very scared it was coming our way. Very crazy to know a storm of this magnitude was so close to home. I love weather and am fascinated by tornadoes, but this was a scary scary day for us in West Central Ohio.

[fjhfjftgjdfhgfj]

i wish i remebered this i was only about 9 or 10 when this happen im 17 now and i storm chase all the time but in my 3 years ive storm chasing ive never seen a tornado like this but i want to

[Fudgelovers1]

That's so scary a few days ago we had a tornado warning and we were in the purple spot but finally it passed us

[justinkrogs]

Hey! My name is Justin Krogman....this is my video. We took this video from the front of our house. You can hear our neighbor, Arnie and my Mom, Pam (freaking out). Just thought I would let you know, as I see many posts on who this was.

[webdoc]

@justinkrogs Thanks for letting me know I'e been curious as to who shot it, it was on a CD that was given to me after I was deployed to Van Wert to assist with the relief/recovery operation after the tornado hit.

[webdoc]

@tboneboy2010 you are right, they can happen at any time, and yes Skywarn is a great organization, I have been involved for over 10 years.

[estinence]

I live in Lima and I wish I could have seen this in person. It didn't make it here, but had I been trying to chase back then I would have been on this storm! I did drive through Van Wert after and the damage was insane to see in person.

[jewellylovessinny15]

I hate it..not the video..but the tornado. It distroyed my house. And was catagorized as a F5 when it hit my house

[craigeness]

amazing video. some of the best tornado footage i've ever seen.

[vw189LBchamp]

i live like a half mile from where that tornado ripped all those factories from their foundations. we ran out of the house and i looked to the left and all i saw was a black wall and blue sparks going everywhere from transformers blowing i guess,,so we just ran to the corner where my cousins used to live on the corner of blaine and bonnewitz to their basement......didnt know if our house would be there when we came out of the basement but it was thank god.

[chadgadget]

Does anyone know where in Van Wert this video was shot? I live in Van Wert and would like to know. I actually live 1 mile south of the path near Slane rd.

[82Nikkis]

We just had an EF4 tornado here around my area of Toledo, Ohio on June 5th 2010. The tornado hit at night around 11:30ish and then acouple hours later another storm came through. Milbury, Ohio looks like a warzone it is very sad. Hugs from Toledo, Ohio!!!

[pinkfloydafobe]

i live in delphos which is only a few miles away and all of the sudden the sky just got really pinkish purple we knew something was up the next day me and my dad went 2 vanwert to see the destrution and it was horrible trucks flipped houses destroyed that tornado even made it on StormStories!

[prayb4udie]

i hope no one died

[vw189LBchamp]

@prayb4udie yeah a kid tried to race away in his truck from the movie theater and got sucked out by this enormous F4. i think there was another older fellow who passed away from a heart attack during the tornado. were lucky it was sunday and no one was at work in all those factories. hundreds would of died cause most didnt have adequate shelters. plus i graduated and went to school with alot of the girls that worked at this purse factory that was completely demolished. they now have a shelter

[prayb4udie]

@vw189LBchamp oh well that sad but at least the girl did not die :)

[hsvweatherman]

Wow. Very violent tornado. That's quite a roar from 1:21 through 1:25

[justinfeasby69]

nice video!! Crisp images......and I really hate to say it......but you asked GOD over and over again to have "IT" dissipate and all it did was gain strength....HHMMM?

[webdoc]

well to put it nice and simple, I was ot the one who shot that footage, nor was I there.

[cjeagles2007]

justin made a poor point. What kinda took away from the video is he just keeps asking the lord to "get it up" but then immediately says "good lord!" in vain. I can understand he was pretty stressed out though at the time.

[justinfeasby69]

@cjeagles2007

I did make a poor point.......sorry. I'm from Van Wert and it was a very sad thing to say, not sure why I said that.

[majesticrecords]

@justinfeasby69 who else are u gonna ask?justin timberlake?stop being a fucking douche.its just what people do.u are a sad soul

[justinfeasby69]

@majesticrecords

I was being a fucking douche, and I'm sorry for that......I'm from Van Wert and it is a terrible thing to say...Sorry again.

[lionlax28]

My fam watched it form, it just barely missed their house!

[pplafritz1]

"That it?"

Naw, it just the clouds taking a sit-down break, idiot.

*Here's your sign*

[2013hayleybaybee]

my cousins live in van wert and i remember them calling us saying that the tornado had passed right over their house...

[Torn80cj]

That was amazing. All that debris raining from the sky. This lets you know you are close. I could tell it was going to go to his right, which is actually the best side in most cases to view a tornado. Most of the ones I have seen went to my right. I had one in Kay county Oklahoma go to my left. It's the best tornado I have seen also. Well behaved tornado also, it didn't hit a single house or car, and it was on the ground for around 18 minutes. Great video, you stuck with it seeing it go right.

[HTSkateboarder]

man i live in convoy and they had the fire trucks go through our town saying get in shelter immediatly! but man i would hate to have been in that thing

[clatonic]

wow....i was about 2 miles away from ths thing.......saw it from there

[hollisandsteph]

Wow! That was amazing! That was awesome footage!

[onleashfreak]

wow. Great footage. I think your prayers worked in that only two people died (while that in ittself is a tradgedy, LOOK at the size of that F4) That went by you guys FAST

[webdoc]

@onleashfreak That was not my voice I did not shoot the video, it was given to me

[johnthespy56]

nice chase

[Blackdragon52k]

READ BELOW COMMENT

..... that kinda made me nervous seeing as I am horrified of storms. And then about a half hour and several trips to the bathroom later, the sirens start. And we completly ignore them for what was going on in my head I havent a clue. I am so nervous because I was actually thinking to my self that this could be a tornado.

I'm sitting in my room. Then I hear my mom scream OMG! And my brother rushes up telling me to get in the basement. We do. Lights go out. Neighborhoods a wreck

[Blackdragon52k]

I will never forget the events of that night. I was about 8, and had never been in a tornado before since I lived northeast in Summit. Oh my god in heaven it was horrifying for me. I remember the day starting off kind of gloomy and rainy and I didnt think much of it. Everything seemed to change around 7:00 or 8:00. I was forced into going grocery shopping with my mom and when I left it was pouring rain and damn the thunder was loud! Then I get home and my parents wanted to pull the cars in.

[TheyCallMeBilliards]

man i live in van wert and that thank wwas a hell of a tornado it was a double vortex just look at the right side of it

[tlynn0419]

I was on my way to van wert on this day, but it started raining so hard i stopped at my grandmas house.... luckily

[purplepopcorn37]

was this a F-4??

[webdoc]

Yes this was an F-4

[adamreish]

We got very lucky it was a sunday and not a monday. the time it hit. that time in the afternoon. school buses would have been taking kids home. people would have been working in the factories that got hit. there could have been more deaths that day.

[balddanny72]

wasn't this the one that sent an automobile crashing through a movie theater?

[webdoc]

yes that's the one, the theater manager saved a lot of lives that day by his quick thinking. This tornado is a shining example of why home and business should have a weather alert radio.

[emncaity]

What was the injury/death count? Anybody know?

[adamreish]

2 deaths alot of minor injuries. cuts scrapes and bruises

[emncaity]

God....that is too bad. Sorry to hear it.

[Blackdragon52k]

Newspaper said 5 deaths

[adamreish]

Not in Van Wert. There were only 2. A young man in his car outside the movie theater and an elderly man who was trying to protect his wife when he realized hey were not going to make it to a shelter.

[Blackdragon52k]

I just checked it again (I kept the paper as a reminder of what had happened) And it said 5 for the state of Ohio in all, not just Van Wert

[jbugg1313]

I live in Van Wert, I was at the airport 1/4 a mile away, I've never seen anything so huge. It moved so quickly. A boy in my class got his house completly ruined by that tornado. :/

[webdoc]

There was debris from the tornado falling out of the sky as far away as Lucas County. The tornado disipated outside of Malinta in Henry County

[jschwind435]

@webdoc Not that I don't believe you, but are there sources? Because nobody will believe me if I tell them lol.

[webdoc]

@jschwind435

Sources of what?

[jschwind435]

@webdoc About debris landing in Lucas county.

[webdoc]

@jschwind435 One of our local ham radio operators here in Henry County lives a mile from the fulton/lucas county lines, he had insulation falling from the sky at his place. I had debris from Van Wert land in my yard here in Napoleon. It was someones college tuition check from their Pell Grant. I was able to return it to them when I was deployed to Van Wert to assist with the relief/recovery.

[webdoc]

@jschwind435 Oh, and if you look in news archive from November 2002 you'll find that which you seek

[vw189LBchamp]

@jbugg1313 yeah i live on blaine st near bonnewitz and boy was that close. felt like it was gonna hit us so we ran to our cousins basement 2 houses from the corner of bonnewitz on blaine. we ran like hell and prayed. thank god this tornado was on a sunday and no one was at work. would of been too many funerals to go to cause i knew so many ppl that worked in those factories. thank god he had a different plan

[sgjake21]

nice vid. "it's over by whatchamajiggies" LOL

[sweetchildomine2011]

i live in van wert and ht e tornado hit my friends house and killed his dog, i was in another town, middlebury, and i could actually see it, it was amazing

[IronCrue3]

God that was terrifying. It barely missed us, but our neighbors were not so lucky.

[trumpetplayerannie]

i live in rockford ohio and i remember that tornado it was scary

[darkangelangela]

awesome tornado

[carmelo1966]

What number of the Fujita scale that monster was?

[webdoc]

It was an F-4 when it hit Van Wert.

[carmelo1966]

wow thanks for the answer.really that tornado was very destructive just by looking at this video.I hope everyone made it out ok.

[KoPloxOwnt]

Yeh, this happend when i was about 7 years old, and i can still remember how it was like i live abuot 20 miles away from van wert and i could stil see the Tornado, it was HORRIBLE

[kyhole67]

i saw the whole thing happen...i live 1/2 mile away from where it hit...i saw it tear up one of my friends houses and i saw it form...it was the coolest but scariest thing i have ever seen

[al1377]

You guys were lucky, that was an ugly tornado!

[appraiser1979]

I live in Fort Wayne, but piloted a plane out of Smith Field and flew over the path a few weeks after the event. It was still a complete disaster then. The path it tore was just amazing from the air. So blessed more folks weren't killed from that beast!

[jbugg1313]

I was so close to that. 1/4 of a mile.

[uscg1472]

my 2 sons go to waynetrace i live on paulding/vanwert co line

[amber38144183]

omg this is scary i used to live in van wert

[0MGI0WNU23]

i was there i live in wayne trace almost at Paulding