“Quite a bit of headway” has been made in debris removal operations in the Lake Township/Millbury area, Brad Gilbert, director of the Wood County Emergency Management Agency, said in a morning media briefing. Operations will continue in full force today and through the weekend, he said.

Gilbert also said technicians yesterday looking at outdoor warning sirens found a small receiving antenna on top of the siren at the Lake Township Fire Station had been damaged and was replaced.

“All indications are the siren is up and working,” Gilbert said, adding, that the siren could be activated from the station. “Technicians will go to the sheriff’s office in Bowling Green to ensure all the equipment there is working properly so that everything’s synched up.”

He credited volunteers who have come out to  help in the aftermath of Saturday’s tornado. “We’ve had over 1,600 volunteers over the last four days,” he said.

“Donations have been outstanding as well, and we’re in the process of creating a donations management team to help funnel those donations in the right direction,” Gilbert said.

The ladies’ auxiliary to the fire department has been receiving numerous donations from throughout the region and the state throughout the week, which has allowed them to feed 400 to 500 people a day.

Lake Township Police Chief Mark Hummer told reporters that police operations continue to support the cleanup effort. “We’re getting a lot done, trying to get these folks back to a sense of their `new normal,’” he said.

The Wood County Health Department will be conducting tetanus shot clinics from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. today (Friday) at the Millbury Fire Hall.

He urged those driving through the area obey road closure signs. “It’s not a suggestion, it’s a law and we will be citing people for that.”

Hummer also said a search was conducted yesterday of the pond adjacent to the damaged Lake Township Administration building, prompted by security video brought to police by Rick Mottmiller, of Draconi Security. The video, collected from security cameras at a trucking company near the administration building.

“There appears to be something in that video – we’re not sure if it’s large debris – we’re not quite sure what it is,” the chief said. “We decided even without a missing person’s report – Toledo Fire and Jerusalem Township came out yesterday afternoon and we used sonar and divers to check the pond next to the old administration building.”

The search identified concrete rubble piles, Hummer said. “We wanted to do our due diligence.”

Steven Spitler,  a representative from state treasurer’s office, said the treasurer is activating the Renew Ohio program, which would allocate $20 million to provide up to a 3 percent interest rate reduction for tornado victims, including businesses, farmers and homeowners throughout the four-county area hit by the tornado. The reduction would be on new and existing loans. Information is available by calling 800-228-1102, 419-241-2957 or visiting www.ohiotreasurer.gov.

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