Woman shares frightening encounter with microburst that struck Ohio campground: 'I thought we might die'
A microburst hit an RV park in the town of Hanging Rock, Ohio, and one resident captured the shocking damage. Mindy Broghton details what was going through her mind during the storm.
Possible tornado slams Hanging Rock, OH campground
A possible tornado hit a trailer park in the town of Hanging Rock, Ohio, on Tuesday and one resident captured the shocking damage.
HANGING ROCK, Ohio – Severe weather spanned from Alabama to Kentucky to Ohio on Tuesday, and for the second time in less than a month, Ohio was hit hard.
This time, the southern part of the Buckeye State bore the brunt of the fury and damage. A microburst hit a trailer park in Hanging Rock, and one woman captured the shocking damage.
A microburst hit an RV park in Hanging Rock, Ohio, and Mindy Broghton captured the shocking damage.
(Mindy Broghton)
"I believe there was just a tornado here in Hanging Rock," Mindy Broghton's voice could be heard on a video as she walked outside of her motorhome less than a minute after the worst of the storm moved through. "I thought we were going to die."
SEVERE WEATHER OUTBREAK PRODUCES TORNADOES, DAMAGE FROM OHIO VALLEY TO SOUTHEAST
Out of the dozen campers on the property, eight were destroyed. Thankfully, the damaged campers had only minor damage, and all the destroyed ones were unoccupied.
The National Weather Service in Charleston, West Virginia sent a storm survey team to the region and determined the damage was not caused by a tornado, but instead it was a microburst – intense winds caused by downdrafts in severe thunderstorms. The scope of damage indicated wind speeds of 90 mph.
Broghton remembers the intensity of the storm only lasting for roughly 15 seconds while she and her fiancé were holed up inside their motorhome, with hail and rain hitting them sideways.
"It happened so quickly," she told FOX Weather.
As their home started to rock back and forth, Broghton's fiancé shielded her with his body. She couldn't help but worry about her children and her new granddaughter who will turn one in June.
"I thought we might die today," she said. "I thought we might. I really did."