Survivors look back on deadly 1985 tornado in Niles

Forty years ago, one of the most violent tornadoes in Ohio hit the Mahoning Valley.

On May 31, 1985, an F5 tornado struck parts of Trumbull County. Twelve people were killed in Ohio, and nine of them were in Niles.

Two people who lived through that day shared their memories--a firefighter who responded to the devastation, and a woman who was just eight years old when the building she was in collapsed around her. 

Kelli Izzo was with her mother and sister when they spotted a tornado coming their way.

"I was driving with my mother and my sister to pick up my other sister from the Eastwood Mall. As we were driving and passing the convenient food mart, we noticed there was a tornado." Izzo said.

Her mother quickly ushered them into a nearby convenient store. Inside, Izzo said, were a handful of people scrambling for cover. Shortly after entering the store, the F5 tornado touched down and the building came apart. 

"When we were in there, the building completely collapsed on top of us." Izzo said.

After eight-year-old Izzo regained consciousness she heard her mother's voice. Not long after, she realized there was a deceased woman resting on her lap.

"I always stop and I think, like in that moment, everything changed, like it was frozen in time." Izzo said. 

Former Niles fire captain Tom Leonard was on duty when the tornado hit. 

"I just happened to be in front of the [fire] station when all the debris came across main street and started the damage in the city of Niles." Leonard said. 

After the tornado passed, Leonard had gone to the same building where Izzo and her family were rescued.

"The building was really hit very hard, and that was our first casualty." Leonard said. 

In the years since the F5 tornado, Niles has rebuilt, but the memories have not faded.

"From eight years old, I knew...the day that you thought you were going to have can change in an instant." Izzo said.

According to the National Weather Service, an F5 tornado is the most intense tornado on the Fujita Scale of Tornado Intensity. Wind speeds can reach up to 318 mph.