Tornado kills 16 in Indiana
 

This was a pretty bad storm. It woke me up out of a dead sleep. I thought for sure my master bathroom window (which faces west) was going to blow in. It was awful.

Where are you, HomerMcvie? I hope you're ok.


http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/11/0...oes/index.html

Tornado kills 16 in Indiana
Storm struck in middle of night catching many asleep

Sunday, November 6, 2005; Posted: 12:38 p.m. EST (17:38 GMT)

(CNN) -- An overnight tornado ripped a 20-mile-long path through southwestern Indiana, killing at least 16 people and injuring 160 others, officials said Sunday.

Adam Groupey, deputy director of emergency management for Evansville and Vanderburgh County, said the tornado touched down about 2 a.m. in Henderson County, Kentucky, then hit an Evansville mobile home park before moving into Warrick County.

One resident of the trailer park told WFIE of Evansville she saw a tornado pick up a car with members of her family in it and toss the vehicle into a tree. Brandi Crawley said no one was seriously injured. (Watch what one official describes as a 'very shocking' scene -- 6:29)

"The damage is very, very extensive," said Chad Bennett, an assistant fire chief in Newburgh in Warrick County. He said the area hardest hit was just north of the city limits.

"Now that daylight has come, it is making it a little more easy to see the scope of the damage, and it is very shocking."

Bennett estimated the damage path was about 3/4 of a mile wide and 20 miles long. (Map of the area)

Groupey said officials had declared a local state of emergency, the first step toward requesting state assistance.

Many residents said the storm moved through very quickly, with the rush of wind lasting less than 15 seconds.

The National Weather Service had issued warnings for the area about 30 minutes before the tornado struck, but many people were asleep and were not aware of them.

'Terrible wind all day long'
Vanderburgh County Coroner Don Erk said 12 people were killed in that county. Assistant Fire Chief Matt Timmel from the Newburgh Volunteer Fire Department said at least four people were dead in Warrick County.

"It's definitely more," he said. "They're still doing a search. This is very rural country. They found one family deceased in the middle of a bean field. But I can't give you a definite number."

It was the deadliest day of tornado activity in the United States since April 8, 1988, when 37 people were killed, including 32 in Oak Grove, Alabama.

Michael Hart, a spokesman for Deaconess Hospital in Evansville, said the facility had received 50 patients, 15 of them in critical condition.

St. Mary's Medical Center in Evansville told authorities they have treated about 110 people for injuries, Warrick County sheriff's Deputy Sue Buchanan told CNN. Many people were able to transport themselves to the hospital, she said.

"They are still finding people in the rubble of the destruction [at the trailer park]. So, that's the reason it's still an active search and rescue, because they are still rescuing people," Indiana Homeland Security spokeswoman Pam Bright told CNNRadio.

Bright said 100 of the 320 mobile homes had been destroyed and 125 others had been damaged.

A Red Cross spokeswoman, Tiffany Horn, said authorities were trying to evacuate the area and that the organization had been on the scene since shortly after the tornado struck.

In addition, about 21,000 households were without power, Mike Roeder, a spokesman for Vectren Power, said Sunday morning. Authorities said there were downed power lines and that people should stay in their homes.

"We had a terrible wind all day long," Timmel said. "It just started increasing and increasing."

He estimated the winds at 60 mph.

The tornado hit the southwestern Indiana town of Newburgh in two places, he said. "There were houses that were leveled."

John Asher, vice president of communications for Churchill Downs, which owns Ellis Park horse track in Henderson County in Kentucky, said some of the 150 race horses there died.

Before Sunday's storm, seven tornadoes had killed 10 people since January in the United States.

Glad to hear you're okay Maria. :) I thought about you when I saw this on the news.

Maria, I am glad you're safe. I think Michelle lives in Henderson....I hope she and her family are okay.

Nancy, where are you? I can't remember where in Indiana you live. You OK?

I'm so sorry to hear this...:distress:

Oh man
 

That sounds horrible! I hate torndados, they scare me to death. :( Glad you are okay, all area Ledgies, check in please!!

I believe Nancy...
 

lives in Lafayette...

Hope ya Indy Ledgies are alright.

Nancy is farther north then I am. She should be fine.

Thank you both. I'm just west of Indianapolis, so I am fine. It was just a really bad storm where I'm at.

Yes, I live in Henderson but we are all o.k. Thanks for checking in :)

I think the death toll is up to 25 now with over 150 injuries. there is a race track (Ellis Park) that the grandstands have been completely destroyed and it's 5 minutes from my house. We did not have a branch down on our street.. Very wierd how tornadoes are. But another neighborhood of houses was leveled.......and I just realized how many horses died :( so tragic. There was an 8 year old girl who was found dead and they cannot identify her, and a pregnant woman died as well :(

http://www.courierpress.com/

So glad you are ok. I heard about the pregnant lady. Breaks my heart....

Glad you're okay, Michelle.

I've heard as many as 200 injuries. :( :distress:

thank you sara and krista

and 200? that very well could be. They believe the death toll is going to go up tremendously also. They haven't gotten thru all of the rubble. Last night we were listening to a scanner and they said people were stuck under the grandstands from the race track and they couldn't get out. I drove by there about 2 hours ago and it is a mess....but by the time I could get over there it was dark, so I really couldn't see any other damage other than the race track (there were spotlights on it)...so sad..

Re:Tornado
 

Lafayette here....okay here....our thoughts and prayers are with those in southern Ind.

The scary part is the fact that it was in the middle of the night. They couldn't hear the sirens. I bet the death toll will go up also. :distress: