INDIANAPOLIS
– No serious injuries were reported
after multiple tornadoes touched down Wednesday in central Indiana, tearing the
roofs off apartment buildings, sending air conditioners falling onto parked
cars and cutting power to thousands of people.
About a dozen
people suffered minor injuries as the tornadoes moved through the area, said
State Police spokesman Capt. David Bursten. Most of those injuries were in
Howard County and included a resident who was trapped in a home by one of the
storms.
Bursten said
those injured included a 5-month-old child who suffered a laceration in
Montgomery County. He attributed the relatively small number of injuries
reported by 8 p.m. to residents taking the approaching storms seriously.
Kokomo Mayor
Greg Goodnight said at a news conference Wednesday evening that there was
"substantial damage to property — a lot of trees are down" in the
city.
Eight funnel
clouds were spotted throughout the afternoon but it's unclear how many touched
down, according to Howard County authorities.
National
Weather Service meteorologist Brad Herold said a preliminary survey shows an
EF3 tornado with maximum winds of 165 mph struck Kokomo, about 40 miles north
of Indianapolis.
"It's
crazy. It's a madhouse," said Mitchell Carlson, a maintenance technician
at the Park Place Apartments in Kokomo. He said the complex has 16 buildings
and "probably eight of them don't have a roof."
But there have
not been any injuries there, he said. "So, I guess we're all blessed at
the Park Place."
He estimated
20 to 30 cars had been damaged by falling tree limbs and air conditioners.
Utility
companies reported more than 32,000 customers were without power statewide as
of 9:15 p.m.
The city of Kokomo
and Howard County declared a joint state of emergency closing all roads to
people and motor vehicles, apart from emergency vehicles, until 10:30 p.m.
Wednesday.
Gov. Mike
Pence said he would be touring storm-damaged Howard and Montgomery counties on
Thursday to assess the damage. He said he would remain in the state "as
long as we need" to make sure people affected by the storms have the
necessary support.
Pence returned
to his home state Wednesday evening. The Republican vice presidential candidate
was campaigning in North Carolina when the twisters touched down in Indiana.
Upon his return, Pence visited the state's emergency operations center in
downtown Indianapolis.
The governor
also said he had a "grateful heart" that there were no reports of deaths
or serious injuries.
Howard County
Commissioner Paul Wyman noted that the county and the city of Kokomo faced
tornado damage in November 2013 when the region was hit by a twister that
damaged homes and businesses and injured nearly three dozen people.
"Kokomo
and Howard County will bounce back once again, and once again we've got to
reach in deep and do the work of recovery," Wyman said.
Police
officers in Indianapolis also spotted at least two funnel clouds close to the
ground Wednesday just south of Interstate 70, according to officer Jim
Gillespie of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.
Television
station WTHR showed images of a toppled Starbucks in Kokomo.
Starbucks
released a statement on its website Wednesday evening, saying "all
partners (employees) and customers" at the damaged coffee shop were safe.
Indiana
University Kokomo canceled all events on campus Wednesday evening due to the
severe weather. School officials in Avon, near Indianapolis, cited the severe
weather in ordering all buses to return to the nearest school. The buses were
allowed to start moving again a short time later.
Source: Fox News
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