Officials said the tornado first touched down on the western side of Park Layne, where the damage occurred to some commercial buildings and trees.
RELATED: Park Layne cleaning up after tornado, Mel-o-Dee closed for weeks
Four other tornadoes were confirmed from the storms on Wednesday, May 24 by the National Weather Service. One hit a mobile home park in Medway. An EF-0 touched down in Fayette County and another hit Warren County. One was also spotted near Piqua in Miami County. A sign from the Sunoco Gas Station damaged in Park Layne was found miles away in Troy.
Mel-o-dee Restaurant closed right after the tornado hit. The popular eatery sustained structural damage and blown air conditioning units. Woody Childers, general manager of the restaurant, said at first, he thought it wasn’t hit too hard. But they later found damage when the business was assessed.
READ MORE: Clark County businesses clean up after tornadoes cause damage
The restaurant was closed for several weeks while repairs were being made.
Other businesses are still repairing the damage they sustained during the storm three months later.
MORE: Repairs going slowly after tornado damage in Park Layne
The Sunoco Gas Station is open for business. People were getting fuel Thursday, August 24. That day marks the three-month anniversary of the storm. Crews were also present doing work on the structure of the small building.
Its next-door neighbor, Motorsports of Dayton is also still open.
“We’ve been able to sell our products motorcycles, and ATVs and side-by-sides through the summer months.,” Mark Pease, general manager of Motorsports of Dayton, said.
Summer is the business’ busiest time of year but it has seen a downward trend since the tornado hit.
“Relatively speaking it’s been pretty good,” Pease said. “We are suffering from some business loss because of the facility being still in, torn up from tornado damage.”
The front showroom was damaged most in the storm. Pease said not much progress has been made in that area because of insurance.
“A couple contractors that have bid the job are saying that the repairs are worth X number of dollars and the insurance company is coming in saying that they feel like it’s worth considerably less to do the repairs,” Pease said.
They are still waiting on that to be completed he said. He hopes the two sides can come to an agreement soon so sales will pick back up.
The motor-sport business’ neighbor Family Dollar has not reopened. It will remain closed.
Both businesses said they hope to have repairs completed within the next few months.
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