CINCINNATI — After surveying storm damage, the National Weather Service said it has confirmed that an EF2 tornado occurred in Franklin County, Indiana.
The NWS said the tornado happened near Drewersburg, a community inside Whitewater Township. It then weakened to EF0 intensity while moving into Butler County.
Some large tree limbs were knocked down along Schradin Road, the NWS said, which is believed to be the end of the tornado.
Our crews found several trees down on homes and vehicles, as well as serious roof damage on many houses around Drewersburg Road.
In the near vicinity, we counted at least three homes with significant damage. One brick home, on Welsh Drive, was essentially leveled by the storm. A neighbor said a woman was taking shelter in her basement when the tornado hit and got trapped inside.
"She couldn't get out. She was trapped and the water was filling up the basement and she smelled gas," Gina Murray, who lives on neighboring Galway Court, said. "Being by herself, she was just terrified."
WATCH: Franklin County, IN saw its worst tornado in decades. Here's what the damage looks like
Ray Thaler, who lives in the area, said volunteer firefighters rescued the woman early Thursday morning.
"Our volunteer fire department is awesome," he said. "Apparently, they got her out pretty quick because before we could even get there, no one was even there."
Thaler said that around 15 to 16 trees came down in his yard, and winds tore part of the siding off a barn on his property.
Still, he said he feels lucky, because his property wasn't hit nearly as badly as his neighbors'.
"We looked and there was damage everywhere," Thaler said. "That house back there's flattened, a friend's of ours, a couple doors down, their house, their cars — everything just was destroyed. And it was so close to our house, it hit our back property and all our woods."
Neighbors said it will take days, if not longer, to recover from the damage left in the wake of the tornado.
The NWS is conducting a storm survey near Florence and Aurora as well in connection with last night's storms.
