Ohio tornado kills 7, wrecks cop cars, graduation

By JOHN SEEWER and MEGHAN BARR Associated Press Writers

MILLBURY, Ohio (AP) - People in northwest Ohio are sifting through houses that have been reduced to rubble by a tornado that killed seven people. Among the dead is the father of a valedictorian at a Toledo-area high school that had to reschedule its graduation.

Neighbors say the house of the valedictorian's family was destroyed, and all that was left was a basement filled with water.

Scott Conley, who was visiting his parents in Millbury, helped rescue the family members across the street.

He says he found the mother and three children in their basement. But he says he couldn't find the father.

Conley says the father ran upstairs to get a flashlight and never made it back downstairs.

The tornado ripped the roof and back wall off Lake High School's gymnasium late Saturday, hours before the graduation ceremony was supposed to begin.