By Brendan O'Brien
(Reuters) - First responders and clean-up crews fanned out across rural Indiana and Ohio on Friday after one or more tornadoes ripped through the area, killing three people and injuring dozens more as it leveled homes and businesses.
Three deaths were reported in Logan County, Ohio, after at least one tornado touched down and moved east at about 7:45 p.m. on Thursday, Sheriff Randall Dodds said in a statement. Earlier reports of three deaths in Indiana later proved to be false.
The twister was one of seven tornadoes in Indiana and Ohio reported to the National Weather Service on Thursday night and early Friday. An additional tornado was reported in northern Texas, and a twister may have also caused damage in a northern Kentucky town.
On Friday, first responders were checking for victims in the Logan County communities of Lakeview, Midway and Orchard Island, Dobbs said during a news conference on Friday morning. The search was initially hampered by downed powerlines, gas leaks and a mass of destruction.
"We are going to recheck those areas again. There are many places back there that are collapsed," Dodds said, adding that teams were out working on a grid system.
As daylight broke, aerial footage posted on social media revealed widespread destruction in Lakeview, a community of 1,100 residents about 70 miles (113 kilometers) northwest of Columbus, Ohio. It showed mobile homes ripped from their foundations, debris covering roadways and large trees on their side.
In Winchester, a town of about 5,000 people in eastern Indiana, 38 people were injured, three critically, when an apparent tornado rolled through on Thursday evening, the mayor said.
"Nobody has passed away, so for as much destruction ... very lucky. There are houses that are leveled," Mayor Bob McCoy said during a news briefing, noting that 22 houses were destroyed and more than 100 badly damaged. "I praise the Lord for this one because this could have been really bad."
The National Weather Service earlier said it could not confirm that a tornado had touched down in Winchester, but that it was likely judging by the damage and images taken by people on the ground.
McCoy said firefighters and volunteer crews were cleaning up and assessing the damage on Friday morning as most of the town was without power.
NBC News earlier reported three deaths in a trailer home park in Winchester, citing state police as a source, but authorities later said that there were no reported deaths in the town.
Several small towns near Winchester also suffered heavy damage from apparent tornadoes.
A twister may have also touched down in Milton, an Ohio River town in northern Kentucky, where local news reported that several homes were damaged.