A huge trampoline from her neighbor's backyard had crashed into her house and landed on the roof around 1:30 p.m., said Regina Kekis, who lives on the Town of Rome side of Townline Road. "That wind was ferocious. It came out of nowhere. It was here maybe a minute and a half and it was gone," she said.
Kekis questioned officials' assessment that the damage from what the National Weather Service called a microburst was minor. Her house's siding now has a big gash in it and she can see at least 10 big trees along the road that were pulled up by the roots, she said. Her neighbor's shed was flattened and other area homes were damaged, too, she said.
National Weather Service spokesman Mike Evans said that straightline winds in the 75 mile-per-hour range caused "very small, localized damage" in the LakeDelta and Westernville area. Microburst damage fans out from a center of impact, but tornadoes produce a long, narrow storm path, he said.
The winds hit the Rome side of her street at first, but then crossed over to the Westernville side, Kekis said.
She said she found debris on her kitchen floor, but has no idea where it came from; the trampoline didn't hit near the kitchen. "This is the strangest storm I've ever seen," she said.
Less than 20 minutes after it hit, the sky turned blue again, Kekis said. "And then within half an hour," she said, "it was gorgeous. It was bizarre."
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