A Mt. Orab, Ohio, family endured a terrifying few moments during storms that struck the area Aug. 11, 2026. According to WCPO 9, people living in the Tri-State were rocked by severe storms that took down trees and power lines. However, some homes were hit harder than others, and one woman shares the story of the scary phone call she received from her daughter as her carport was ripped out of the ground.
While Teresa Ward’s story has a happy ending (her family was found safe), her home still sustained significant damage that will be costly to repair.
And she’s not alone. Many are saying that they’ve never seen a storm blow through with such strength before, with Ward’s daughter calling the whole ordeal a “real eye-opener” for people in the community.
Hopefully it won’t take Mt. Orab residents too long to clean up since there are a few weeks left of summer weather and there’s a chance that more of these intense storms will pop up.
Ward Was on the Phone With Her Family When the Storm Arrived
Ward wasn’t home when Tuesday’s storms hit, but she was on the phone with her daughter at the time. She told WCPO 9 about the conversation, sharing the scary moments when she didn’t know exactly what was going on with her daughter and grandchildren.
“I’m on the phone with her, and she started screaming that my house was moving, and then the line went dead, and I was very worried,” Ward recalled.
When she was finally able to make the trek back to her house to see what was happening for herself, Ward said she was shocked by what she found. According to her, her carport had been ripped out of the ground, and everything that had been inside of it was strewn across her lawn. She also learned that her roof was heavily damaged by the storm, and she, some family members, and her neighbors had to put a tarp over it to stop water from coming in.
People Were Stunned by the Damage
Makayla Slater, one of Ward’s other daughters, told WCPO 9 that she had never seen damage this bad before. “That storm was a real eye-opener for a lot of people out here.”
Nearby, WLWT5 reported that an animal sanctuary was also heavily damaged on Tuesday. Like Ward’s story, the animals and humans located inside the sanctuary were unharmed, but the structure sustained some significant damage.
According to Forth News, Emergency Alerts were sent out during Tuesday’s storm. Among them was a tornado warning and a severe thunderstorm warning. The alert said that the storm was capable of producing 50-mile-per-hour winds, as well as flying debris.