Other states
Illinois
• At least six people were killed
• One of the worst-hit areas was Washington, a town of 16,000 about 140 miles west of Chicago, where a tornado razed houses and sent cars flying.
• The National Weather Service said the tornado had a preliminary rating of EF4, meaning it packed wind speeds of 170 to 190 mph.
• Washington, Ill., Mayor Gary Manier estimated 250 to 500 homes had been damaged or destroyed.
• One person died in Washington, Ill., while three others were killed in Massac County in the far southern part of the state.
• Gov. Pat Quinn declared a disaster in seven counties.
• Soldier Field evacuated the stands and ordered the Bears and Ravens off the field.
Michigan
• 620,000 homes and businesses lost power.
• The Red Cross opened five emergency shelters Monday to help those without power.
• Jackson County Sheriff Steven Rand said a 21-year-old man from Leslie, Mich., died when a tree crushed his car Sunday night.
• The Shiawassee County Sheriff’s Department said a 59-year-old Perry man was found dead and entangled in high-voltage power wires in Perry after going outside late Sunday to investigate a noise.
• More than 100 schools in the Detroit area canceled classes.
• High winds forced officials to close the Mackinac Bridge — a 5-mile span connecting Michigan’s Upper and Lower peninsulas — to semi-trucks and trailers.
Ohio
• Tens of thousands were left without power.
• The National Weather Service confirmed Monday that two tornadoes touched down in the northwest part of the state, although no significant injuries were reported.
• Wood County Director of Emergency Management Brad Gilbert said two people suffered minor injuries when their house was damaged in Jerry City, about 10 miles southeast of Bowling Green.
• Winds toppled a drive-in movie screen at a theater in the Toledo suburb of Oregon.
Source: The Associated Press
• At least 11 tornadoes caused damage through 12 counties in Indiana.
• Six storms had EF2 wind speeds, between 111 to 135 mph.
• Gov. Mike Pence said the state has begun assessing whether or not to seek federal disaster aid.
KOKOMO, Ind. — The buzz of chainsaws cut through the chill Monday as shaken Indiana residents began cleaning up from at least 11 tornadoes that carved an angry path of destruction across 12 counties, injuring dozens but miraculously sparing lives.
Gov. Mike Pence toured several storm-tossed communities as state officials began assessing the damage to determine whether to seek federal disaster aid.
“I haven’t seen such devastation in a long, long time,” Pence said in hard-hit Kokomo, where at least 32 people were injured and about 50 homes were destroyed.
The storms that hit Indiana on Sunday were part of a wave of severe weather that cut across the Midwest, killing six people in Illinois and two in Michigan.
The National Weather Service said its preliminary findings indicate that at least six EF2 tornadoes packing wind speeds of 111 to 135 mph struck Indiana. They included one of the ground for 10 miles that hit Kokomo, a 12-mile tornado in nearby Grant County and one in southwestern Indiana’s Knox County that traveled 19 miles.
Tornadoes also were reported in two other southern Indiana counties and in Jasper County to the north.
The storms cut power to thousands, tore off roofs, damaged schools and left mountains of debris where homes once stood.
About 30,000 homes and businesses, mostly in northern and central Indiana, remained without power Monday. Several school districts canceled or delayed classes because of power issues or damage.
Damage ranged from a 110-year-old post office in the historic Indianapolis community of Irvington to grain silos, houses, factories and a coffee shop in places including Lafayette, Lebanon, Washington and Vincennes.
The storm that hit Kokomo was the worst to hit the city since a deadly tornado on Palm Sunday in 1965, the Kokomo Tribune reported.
“In my lifetime, this is the worst tornado we’ve ever experienced,” said Mayor Greg Goodnight, who was born a few days after the 1965 twister.
Even so, many residents counted their blessings as they searched for belongings amid the wreckage.
Phyllis Rawlins, 59, said losing the two-story Victorian-style house she and her late husband built about eight years ago was hard, especially since the storm came about a year after her husband’s death.
“This is a severe loss, after losing him,” she said.
But she was grateful that her granddaughter, Chelsea, and friends from church survived. They were in the house when the storm struck and got to the basement just before the tornado lifted the house, moving it 100 feet away onto train tracks.
Chelsea suffered a broken ankle, Rawlins said, and the others had broken bones and cuts.
Patsy Addison, a 62-year-old homemaker, also was feeling fortunate. She sought shelter in a hall closet in her home Sunday and didn’t have time to close its door before a large maple tree crashed through her home.
The tree landed less than a foot from the closet, showering Addison with insulation.
“The tree was where I was standing seconds before,” she said Monday. “I’m thankful to God that I’m still here.”
She surveyed her home Monday with her husband, Robert, who summed up the damage matter-of-factly.
“Houses can be rebuilt, lives can’t,” he said.
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