Deadly tornado rips across Midwest
At least 22 people killed in Indiana Scores injured as homes shredded
EVANSVILLE, IND.—
A tornado tore across western Kentucky and Indiana early yesterday, killing at least 22 people as it cut through a mobile home park and obliterated trailers and houses as residents slept. The tornado, with winds of at least 254 km/ h, hit a horse racing track near Henderson, Ky., then jumped into Indiana around 2 a. m.
“ It was just a real loud roar. It didn’t seem like it lasted over 45 seconds to a minute, then it was calm again,” said Steve Gaiser, who lives near Indiana’s Eastbrook Mobile Home Park in Evansville.
At least 17 people were killed in the mobile home park, according to Eric Williams of the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Department. More people were believed to still be trapped in the debris, and National Guard units were called in to help with searchandefforts. At least 200 people were injured during the storm.
“ They were in trailer homes, homes that were just torn apart by the storm, so they’re just now getting in there trying to find people,” said deputy Vanderburgh county coroner Annie Groves. “ It’s just terrible.’’
Rescuers on the scene reported seeing children wandering the area looking for their parents and parents searching for missing children. Children’s bicycles and other toys were strewn amid the debris of aluminum siding, mattresses, chairs and insulation.
Five other people were confirmed dead in neighbouring Warrick County, east of Evansville, where the Ohio River city of Newburgh was hit. No deaths were reported in Kentucky. The storm reduced homes to splinters and scattered debris across the countryside. Entire blocks of buildings were nothing but rubble.
Indiana homeland security spokeswoman Pam Bright said about 100 of the 350 homes in at the Evansville mobile home park were destroyed and 125 others there were damaged.
Larry and Christie Brown rode out the storm inside a trailer.
“ Man, it was more than words can say,” Larry Brown said. “ We opened the door and there wasn’t anything sitting there.’’ Chad Bennett, assistant fire chief in Newburgh, told CNN that sirens sounded, but most people didn’t hear them because it happened in the middle of the night. The tornado developed in a line of thunderstorms that rolled rapidly eastward across the Ohio Valley. The National Weather Service had posted severe thunderstorm warnings for sections of northern Ohio. Ryan Presley, a weather service meteorologist in Paducah, Ky., said a single tornado touched down near Smith Mills in western Kentucky, jumped the river and cut a 30- kilometre swath through Indiana’s Vanderburgh and Warrick counties. The tornado appeared to be at
least an F3 on the Fujita scale.
Warrick County
Sheriff Marvin Heilman said the victims
included a woman who
was eight months’
pregnant, her husband and a young child in the rural town of Degonia Springs. A teenage girl was also killed near Boonville, and her father was critically injured, he said. Tim Martin, 42, was at his parents’ mobile home when they heard the wind and then the tornado picked up the home and shoved it into the neighbour’s yard. He and his parents escaped unharmed, but they heard several neighbours calling for help. A nearby mobile home was overturned, and another appeared to have been obliterated. “All I could see was debris,” he said. “ I thought it was a bad dream.’’
Bright said it was the deadliest tornado in Indiana since April 3, 1974, when an outbreak of several tornadoes killed 47 people and destroyed 2,069 homes. The Ellis Park racetrack in Kentucky had significant damage to barns, the grandstand and other buildings, and some workers were injured, said Paul Kuerzi, the track’s vice-president and general manager.
“ It appears at this point that three horses have died from injuries suffered in storm. It’s too early to know if any other horses were injured,” Kuerzi said. About 150 horses in training were stabled there. Mike Roeder, a spokesman for utility company Vectren, said 25,000 homes were without power yesterday. There also were reports of natural gas leaks.