While Bill Rhoads' home of 23 years was destroyed, he said he isn't worried.
"Me and my wife never got a scratch, we lived through that in the dark, with rain, and insulation and things flying around, I don't care about the house," he said.
A tornado warning was issued for Ross County by the National Weather Service in Wilmington very early Saturday morning, and Ross County Emergency Management was activated.
The Ross County Village of South Salem was hit by a suspected tornado in the early hours of Saturday morning, destroying one house and a gym, the "Buckskin Barbell Club," in the next-door lot.
Other buildings in the neighborhood suffered various degrees of damage.
No injuries were reported, according to Ross County Emergency Management Agency Director Paul Minney.
Rhoads said he and his wife were selling the home, located on the 3000 block of Stewart Street, and that real estate agents had been in over the last month to take pictures of everything and said he believed insurance would likely cover the damage to the home.
"The community has been very helpful," he said. "Local people pulled us out of there, a neighbor gave us clothes, we didn't have any."
As of 11:30 Saturday morning, community members along with township and village employees were working to clear Stewart Street.
Other debris on village roads had been cleared earlier in the morning by the township, village, and state, said Minney, although damage was still evident across the village.
The Buckskin Community Church, located at 2862 South Church Street, opened its doors to the community Saturday morning, said Minister Mark Current.
"We're passing out water right now, and we do have power, if you want to come in, use restrooms, sit down, be comfortable in the warmth," said Current. "We're also trying to identify the people hardest hit, so we can help with food and a place to stay if we can get lodging for people."
The minister said he appreciated the community for the way they come together in times of need.
"This is a special place, everybody comes together when there's something like this," he said.
Minney stated he did not know when Stewart Street would be able to be reopened, as crews worked to reconnect utilities.
"We did manage to get (the wreckage of the gym) out of the road, and the community has come together like no other community. We're moving debris and we're working on getting food for everyone who is working," he said.
The National Weather Service stated on its website that it is believed tornadoes were responsible for damage near Samantha in Highland County as well as South Salem.
"We will be in contact with emergency managers from these counties as well as other affected counties to determine a specific plan to survey the damage as well as assess the need for additional surveys in other locations," they said in a statement.
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