LAURELVILLE - A week ago Dave Winland's property on Union Road in Hocking Township had a house, a barn and a detached garage he used as a workshop.

Now all that's left is the more than 100-year-old house.

"That old oak house saved our lives," Winland told a damage assessment team from the Hocking County Emergency Management Agency Monday morning.

Winland said he saw the tornado that destroyed his garage and barn and damaged or destroyed other homes and buildings in the early morning hours of May 28 along a five-mile path northeast of Laurelville in Hocking County.

As the lightning flashed during the thunderstorm that night, Winland looked outside the house to the west.

"I saw a black wall between the trees," he said as he described the approaching tornado to the team.

The family was able to make it to their home's basement just as a side door was blown off the house.

Winland's story was similar to others the assessment team heard at each of their 10 stops.

One family was able to safely make it to their basement before their front porch was torn off and thrown over the roof of the house. Another woman ran back upstairs to lock her dog in the bathroom after she couldn't convince it to come into the basement.

While the teams listened to the residents' often harrowing stories they asked about and looked at damage to their homes and property, asked if anyone was injured and how their friends and neighbors were doing and made them aware of counseling services from the American Red Cross.

The three teams, made up of employees from the Hocking County EMA, auditor's office and health department, Fairfield County EMA and Fairfield County Amateur Radio Emergency Service volunteers, visited more than 40 homes in a few hours Monday morning.

Hocking County EMA Director Cesalie Gustafson said without the help it would have taken her two-person department at least a week to do the damage assessments.

"It's greatly important to get these damage assessments and needs assessments done as quickly and timely as possible," Gustafson said.

The faster the information is gathered and passed on the faster assistance from state and federal agencies can be made available she explained.

The information will also used to determine where the county's long term recovery team will be used.

The long term recovery team is made of local groups, business and individuals who can provide help to those effected by disasters.

Gustafson said much of the work with this storm will be removing trees knocked down by high winds.

The EF2 tornado that struck Hocking County was part of a wide-spread system of storms that produced at least 20 tornadoes throughout Ohio, according to the National Weather Service, including EF0 and EF1 tornadoes that damaged homes and businesses in Pickaway County.

With many volunteer organizations focusing on higher population areas with more widespread damage like in Green and Montgomery counties, Gustafson said a locally-based team of volunteers is important.

"Having that community-based volunteer groups makes it faster and more efficient to get help here locally," she said.

While the base of the team has been in place since it was first created in 2012, Gustafson said more volunteers are always welcome.

"It's whatever they can bring to the table," she said about what skills and tools volunteers have. "But they have to raise their hand say 'I can help.'"

To volunteer to help with tornado cleanup in Hocking County contact the Hocking County EMA at 740-385-6168.