Winds reaching 70 mph knocked over three barns being renovated Wednesday at the state's largest egg farm, killing two workers, authorities said. Strong winds also blew down a 10-foot-high brick wall at a school construction site in Edgerton, near the Ohio-Indiana state line, killing a worker, and knocked three semitrailers onto their sides on U.S. 23 south of Marion.
Two construction workers who were laying concrete blocks at Ohio Fresh Eggs were killed in one of the barns, said Bill Schwaderer, a spokesman for the Ohio Department of Agriculture. Three other workers escaped with minor injuries.
Authorities blamed the barn collapses on high winds. The National Weather Service said the area, about 25 miles northeast of Columbus, was hit by a line of strong thunderstorms with winds estimated at 60 to 70 mph.
The barns at Ohio Fresh Eggs, which produces about 5 million eggs per day at operations in three counties, had been empty of hens for several years and were being renovated, Schwaderer said. Water and electricity had been turned off for the renovation.
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