Four-year-old Michael Holcomb III was running around on the grass of his backyard in pajamas Tuesday morning, playing with two small dogs, Tucker and Rusty.

There was a smile on Michael’s face, and his focus was on the small joys of life rather than the massive cleanup going on around him in the Clermont County village of Moscow. Dump trucks lined the road next to Michael’s home, and workers loaded debris to be hauled away.

Michael’s swing set was ruined by what he called “the mean tornado,” which practically destroyed the village March 2. Michael told me he hopes to get a new swing set to play on – maybe for his birthday, which is July 24.

The boy’s mother, Kim Skeene, smiled at the thought. Their home and garage sustained about $17,000 in damage, she said. The house was insured, and she considers herself lucky because her son survived the storm. And, too, the damage to their home was minimal compared with what happened to some others in the village of about 296 people.

Skeene told me she is a nurse, and she was at work in Cincinnati when she learned about the tornado. It struck the village as her son was getting picked up from a nearby daycare by his grandfather.

Nearly 100 homes were hit hard, and Moscow Village Hall and a U.S. Post Office suffered major damage. Mayor Tim Suter previously told me he isn’t sure whether residents of destroyed homes will want to rebuild, but Skeene was adamant that she intends to stay.

Progress has been made in cleanup efforts related to several tornadoes that destroyed or damaged hundreds of homes and other structures in Clermont County – as well as some property in Adams County, Brown County, and Scioto County – but much work remains to be done.

And there is more tragic news.

Bessie Baldwin, 99, died last Saturday (March 10) at a Cincinnati hospital of injuries suffered when a March 2 tornado overturned her home in Tiffin Township in Adams County. Three other people, all residents of Clermont County, died the day that several tornadoes hit Southern Ohio.

The families and friends of all who lost loved ones remain in my prayers, as well as those who lost their homes and treasured possessions.

I was among about 100 people who attended the Tuesday (March 13) funeral of Baldwin in West Union. A display of photographs showed her outside her home, surrounded by flowers she had planted – and numerous bouquets of fresh flowers were arranged near her casket. I presented an American flag that had flown over the Capitol to her surviving son, Roy Baldwin, 69, who was with her when her home was struck by the violent windstorm.

During the service, I sat with Adams County Commissioner Roger Rhonemus, a friend of Bessie Baldwin. He told me her death was a great loss for the community.

Rhonemus then led me on a tour of devastated areas of Adams County. We stopped by what had been the home of Dewey and Ruth Ann Moore. The two were forced to vacate what had been a well-built brick house because it was destroyed by a tornado, as was their barn. They survived by holing up in the basement, I was told.

From the yard of the hilltop home, I saw hundreds of surrounding acres of farmland littered with debris.  It must be cleared so that farming can resume. Tree branches would damage expensive farming equipment, said Rhonemus, who is a farmer.  Youngsters from various groups have been asked to volunteer to comb the fields, he said.

Many of the thousands of downed trees were so badly splintered that it’s unlikely they could be harvested for lumber, Rhonemus said. Cattle worth thousands of dollars apiece also were killed.

Erosion because of the denuded hillsides is a major concern, and some debris blown into creek beds could end up slamming into and damaging bridges downstream. 

Five separate tornados were reported in Ohio on that fateful Friday. Three touched down in Adams County, and another tornado damaged the Otway community center, a nearby fire department building, and some homes in Scioto County. But the tornado that hit Moscow in Clermont County and traveled on into Brown County caused the most damage – with winds of up to 160 miles an hour, according to the National Weather Service.

 I toured many of the affected areas of Clermont County the day after the tornadoes struck, and I revisited them Tuesday to assess relief efforts.

Tate Township Trustee Frank Wilson led me through Wells Cemetery, where it looked like a can of giant pickup sticks had been scattered. Fallen trees were so densely tangled we had to climb over them to get to the gravestones. Many markers were knocked over or damaged. One appeared unscathed because it had fallen over before the storm hit. It read: “In memory of Sara Davis, consort of James Davis, who died Nov. 8th, 1834, in her 40th year.”

The township is responsible for the cemetery, and cleanup could cost more than $12,000, Wilson estimated. A professional crew will have to be hired to clear the trees, he said.

More than 100 homes in Tate Township reportedly were damaged, and three were destroyed, Wilson said.  

 Last Friday, more than 450 volunteers helped remove debris in tornado-stricken areas of Clermont County, and about 600 volunteers pitched in last Saturday, a county official said. The Ohio Army National Guard also helped with debris removal, as did Service Department work crews from Clermont County’s Miami Township.

I talked with several National Guardsmen on Tuesday in Moscow, including some from Chillicothe who said they had been helping out in the village for a week.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich called me late last week to say President Obama’s administration had rejected a request for federal disaster relief for Clermont County, but my Cincinnati office continues to work with federal, state, and local agencies to determine what other options are available to help victims. 

The U.S. Small Business Administration agreed this week to make low-interest loans available to eligible homeowners and renters in Clermont and Brown counties to replace their belongings. Homeowners could get loans of up to $200,000 to rebuild homes or replace furniture, and renters could get up to $40,000 in loans to replace possessions, I was told. 

A loan and grant application center is to open today (March 16) at the Washington Township Hall in Clermont County, 2238 State Route 756. For information, call (800) 659-2955 or visit www.sba.gov and click on “Disaster Recovery Loans.”

A state individual assistance program could help those who don’t qualify for SBA loans, or provide additional help to those who are eligible for an SBA loan, I was told.  Eligible residents could get up to $18,700 for housing or to replace possessions.

I called the governor’s office Thursday (March 15) to check on whether local governments in the storm-affected areas could qualify for the state disaster relief program, which could reimburse them for cleanup and recovery efforts. I will continue to push hard for as much help as possible for all victims. 

The Clermont County Storm Victims Assistance Hotline can provide information on services available to victims, how to volunteer to help, donations needed, and other issues related to the March 2 tornado.  The number is (513) 735-8521.