13 WTHR - Indianapolis News |Tornado debris travels long distances

Tornado debris travels long distances

Lawrence County - Clean-up continues after tornadoes ripped through portions of Indiana. The National Weather Service confirms three tornadoes, two in Lawrence County, and one in Whitley. Straight line wind damage also occurred in Daviess and Knox Counties. Debris is showing up in places that may surprise you.

The storm tore houses from their foundations and moved a school bus 40 feet, the strong winds pushing the vehicle onto its side. But the people who experienced it can provide the best picture.

"This end of the house raised up," said Dallas Bolton, storm victim.

"I could not believe it. It just 'boom' and it was done," said Delilah Taylor, storm victim.

Taylor's Fayetteville home was right in the path of Sunday's tornado.

"It raised the roof," she said.

Across the street, the force of the storm lifted Dallas Bolton's home right off the foundation. The house is totaled but he considers himself lucky.

"We lost a few things, but our stuff is not scattered to the wind," Bolton said.

His neighbors were not so fortunate. Two of their homes were leveled and their belongings were spread across farm fields as far as the eye can see. The sheer impact of the storm is apparent. Trees were uprooted and shingles from roofs are all over the ground. The tornado even carried debris from a home in Fayetteville to the backyard of a home in Columbus, two counties away. The distance by air is about 45 miles.

"I had no idea where Fayetteville was," said Linda Davis, who was at home Sunday when she noticed what she thought was a piece of trash in her backyard. It turned out to be a canceled check.

"Completely dry. Didn't look like it had been through anything," she said.

But later when she saw coverage of the Lawrence County tornadoes on television and an interview with one of the storm victims, Scott Ramsey, whose home was leveled in Fayetteville, she realized where the check came from.

"To pick something up like this travel that distance is amazing," she said.

It is hard not to marvel in the random force of nature, but for those still picking up the pieces wherever they land, it is more a wonder they all survived.

There are also reports of debris found in Seymour about 40 miles away. Linda Davis, who found the canceled check,  says she's taking up a collection at work for the Ramsey family. The donation and the canceled check will be delievered in person on Friday.