Two churches provide shelter after tornado strikes Aumsville

  
    AUMSVILLE — Two churches here were among three emergency shelters that opened after a rare tornado did a wide range of damage in this Marion County town, Tuesday, Dec. 14, but resulted in no loss of life.
     As reported by KGW Channel 8, two of the shelters were opened at Bethel Baptist Church, 645 Cleveland St., and Mountain View Wesleyan Church, 111 Main St., The Aumsville Community Center served as the third shelter.
     A report in The Oregonian told how Pastor Dwight Bales of the Baptist church was in his office late that morning when he noticed the sound of heavy rain and hail hitting the building’s metal roof. He looked outside to see what was going on, but quickly went back in because it was so wet. Then he suddenly heard a whooshing noise that got louder and then sounded like an explosion.
     He soon learned that it was a tornado and that townspeople were being directed to his church to take refuge.
     Also at work at the church was its secretary, Summer Amato. After hearing the torrential rain and hail, she heard a boom and a flash of light. The church’s youth pastor opened the door and looked outside to see a funnel cloud in the distance. She eventually was told that the roof of her own home was torn off and the fence was down.
     Bethel Baptist also served as a public information office for emergency response services.
     The twister touched down at the south end of the city, traveled northwest and lifted up near Highway 22. Multiple buildings were hit, with the most damage reported near the area of Main and Sixth in Aumsville.