Rich Van Wyk/Eyewitness News
Madison County - The National Weather Service confirms that a small tornado touched down in southern Madison County just west of Ingalls overnight. It was one of three tornadoes confirmed overnight. The other two were in Clark and Dubois Counties.
The Madison County tornado began near county road 1050S, just west of county road 750W, pushing the roof off of a house. From there the tornado continued north, damaging a large barn up the hill north of the flooding Lick Creek.
The tornado also destroyed a pole barn, damaged a home, and a 30-foot long trailer along county road 1000S. Further damage to trees occurred across the road from the pole barn before the tornado lifted.
Based on the damage to the homes and barns, the tornado produced EF1 intensity damage with maximum winds estimated at just over 100 mph. The tornado's path was just over a half mile long and around 200 feet wide.
In addition to the tornado damage, downburst straightline wind damage was also observed just south of the tornado touchdown near Woods Drive at State Road 67. Additional downburst straightline wind damage in the form of downed trees, limbs and powerlines occurred further southwest on State Road 67 in Fortville at Motel Road, Industrial Drive and just north and west of the downtown area.
A Madison County man survived after being hit by a piece of wood when the roof of his home was blown off during the storms.
Many neighborhood streets in Marion, Hamilton, Boone and Madison Counties became impassable. Some of the worst damage occurred in Madison County between Ingalls and Fortville.
Before the tornado sirens went off, the damage was done. Madison County authorities suspect one of several severe storms exploded through Ingalls and Fortville, taking down trees, power lines, barns and garages and destroying one home.
Harold Brown nearly died in his sleep.
"Thank the good Lord I'm here. Thank God I am here," said Brown.
Winds ripped off his roof, tearing walls away with it and raining debris all through the house.
Brown was asleep in bed when the storm took the roof off. Several two-by-fours landed on him.
"I didn't hear anything. It was a two-by-four or a two-by-six that hit me in the forehead. I don't know if it knocked me out or what. When I woke up it was raining on me. I looked up and the top was gone," he said.
"My husband immediately threw on a coat and some clothes and ran over there. He is a retired elderly man, who had back surgery in December, he walked with a walker, so we knew he needed help," said neighbor Denise Arney. "He was up, he was alert, finding his bearings, but he was ok. Just trying to get the things you need to take, clothes on, cell phone, some important things."
Not far away, Alan Head's place is a mess. His pole barn is gone and the things in side are scattered across his property.
A neighbor's 30-foot camper is unrecognizable.
Head said he slept through it too.
"It looks like a war zone It looks like a war went on here. I have limbs down everywhere," he said.
In Fortville, Becky Hiday's garage was destroyed. The winds picked up the roof of the garage and dropped it, causing the walls to collapse on the cars parked inside.
Ingalls resident Denise Head said she felt lucky to have such great neighbors, and that no one was hurt. "It's just material things," she said, describing the damage.
The damage, although hit and miss, follows a mile-long path across the two communities.
Repair and clean-up crews have their work cut out for them. No one was seriously hurt.
With the winds and rain long gone, concerns are now shifting to rising flood waters.
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Dubois County tornado
A preliminary report from the National Weather Service confirmed an EF2 tornado in Dubois County with estimated winds of 120 mph. The most significant damage was in Celestine. Roofs were blown off two homes and walls collapsed in one home. A double wide trailer was blown off its foundation and an RV was thrown across the road. One minor injury was reported.
Storms blew through the state, sometimes at 60-70 mph, sparking flood and tornado warnings for some counties and weather watches for nearly every county in the state.
Tornado warnings were issued for several counties in the area when storms were noted that had the potential of spawning tornadoes. Storms west of Bloomington and Muncie led to warnings around 1 a.m. Monday.
Another round of tornado warnings were issued from Terre Haute to Hendricks County and in the eastern part of the state, with a storm capable of producing tornadoes forming at Anderson and moving toward Muncie.
Warning sirens sounded in several areas around Marion, Hamilton and Hendricks counties as a Severe Thunderstorm Warning was issued on top of an existing Tornado Watch.
Flood watches and warnings were issued for much of the state as rain poured onto rivers and creeks that were already well above flood stage.
Power outages
Duke Energy reported a large outage in southern Hamilton County Sunday night. More than 1,300 customers were without power from an incident centered near I-69 and 126th Street in Fishers.
