Tornadoes tear through Midwest, killing elderly couple in Indiana home
(CBS) — An elderly couple in Indiana was found dead after their home was destroyed as a string of tornadoes touched down in multiple states on Tuesday.
At least 17 tornadoes were reported in Indiana, Illinois, Texas and Alabama over the past 72 hours, according to data from NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center. There were also more than 300 damaging severe storm reports from the Southeast to Pennsylvania.
Lake Village, Indiana — a town of about 1,800 people in Newton County — was in the path of a “large tornado” Tuesday night, officials said. Two people died when their home was struck by a tornado, according to Liz Woods, deputy chief of staff at the Indiana Department of Homeland Security.
The National Weather Service reported Wednesday that the tornado responsible for the two deaths tore through northern Illinois and northern Indiana and had a preliminary rating of EF-3, with estimated peak winds of 150 mph. The Enhanced Fujita Scale classifies the strength of a tornado from EF-0, the weakest, to EF-5, the strongest.
The tornado was estimated to have traversed a distance of 36.6 miles on the ground over one hour and 21 minutes, starting in Kankakee County, Illinois — located south of Chicago — and ending its journey in Jasper County, Indiana.
Fierce winds pummel Indiana, destroy homes
The two people killed were tentatively identified as a couple in their 80s, Arlene and Edward Kozlowski, the Newton County Coroner’s Office said. An autopsy was scheduled for Friday.
Indiana State Police said officials located 10 people who were injured, though there were others who transported themselves to local hospitals. More than 100 structures were damaged and 32 were destroyed, but many homes that were damaged weren’t included in the figure, officials said during a news conference Wednesday afternoon.
“Considering the damage that we’ve seen, I am really surprised there aren’t a lot more injuries,” Lake Township Volunteer Fire Department spokesperson Lori Postma said during a news conference earlier Wednesday.
A secondary search and rescue effort will be conducted and the damaged scenes will also be double-checked, state police told reporters.
“There is a lot of devastation, there are complete annihilation of homes,” Postma said. She also said four homes belonging to firefighters were severely damaged.
Multiple suspected tornadoes were being investigated by the weather service.
Jennifer Telford, 49, told The Associated Press she hid in her basement in Lake Village, where she followed news reports of the storm. She said she didn’t hear the tornado that struck to the south, adding that not all warning sirens sounded.
“The siren in town didn’t go off,” she said. “The sirens outside town did.”
Felicia Wilson was seen salvaging what she could from what’s left of her home.
“My husband put his heart and soul into this,” Wilson told CBS News. “It hurts, it does. Our little community though has come together.”
The EF-3 tornado that touched down in Kankakee County downed trees and power lines and overwhelmed the 911 center with emergency calls, according to local officials.
The twister caused major damage on the south side of Kankakee City, said Trooper Jayme Bufford, a spokesperson for the Illinois State Police. It then traveled northeast into Aroma Park, where it leveled entire blocks — shearing the roofs off some buildings and ripping straight through others.
The tornado was seen on video ripping across a field of farmland near an airport. Its speed and force left residents stunned as it barreled toward their homes.
It came with a storm that also dumped softball-sized hail, some of which was a record-breaking 6 inches. Jim Retondo of Aroma Park, Illinois, said his son told him to run to the basement as the hail came down seconds later.
“I could hear all this stuff banging on the roof as we were going down,” Retondo told CBS News.
Officials were seen overnight going door to door and walking through homes in rubble, performing search and rescue efforts.
The American Red Cross of Illinois said a shelter was open at Kankakee Community College, offering meals, charging stations, pet kennels and a place for people to stay.
“We stepped out and saw our neighbor’s garage gone … and the next neighbor’s house gone, both of our cars, my living room, our shed, gone,” said Carlin Arseneau, a Kankakee resident.
The severe weather threat continued Wednesday afternoon into the evening, with numerous tornado watches already issued.
This comes just days after at least six people were killed last week in Michigan and Oklahoma after powerful storms produced at least three tornadoes.
