Nearly 3 dozen injured in Kokomo area; 7 states affected by storms

KOKOMO, Ind. — Kokomo police say nearly three dozen people were injured when a suspected tornado swept through the north-central Indiana city, leaving a trail of destruction.

Major Brian Seldon of the Kokomo Police Department says Howard County emergency management says 32 people were injured in Sunday’s storm, but that only three of those people were injured seriously enough to require hospitalization.

Seldon says most of the people injured in the suspected tornado suffered only minor injuries.

He says officials are still assessing how many homes and businesses in the Kokomo area were damaged by the storm, which swept through Kokomo’s southeast side along U.S. 31.

Seldon says State Police are helping Kokomo officers patrol the damaged areas and are asking people to stay away from storm-ravaged neighborhoods.

A state-by-state look

An unusually large and strong late-season storm system ripped through several states across the Midwest on Sunday, spawning tornadoes and tearing through homes and overturning cars along its path. Here’s a snapshot of what is happening, state by state:

INDIANA

Severe thunderstorms packing tornadoes and heavy winds rolled across Indiana, injuring several people and causing widespread damage.

Gov. Mike Pence said 12 counties reported either tornadoes or storm damage after the initial line of storms had traveled midway across Indiana. Tens of thousands of homes lost power.

On Sunday night an Amtrak train collided with a tree that had fallen onto lines near Michigan City, causing a 90-minute delay to the Chicago to Grand Rapids, Mich., service. The same train was halted again early Monday due to a downed tree near Holland, Mich. No one was hurt, but passengers completed their journey by bus.

Kokomo police asked residents to stay home and off the streets after city officials declared a state of emergency. The city police department posted photos on its Twitter account showing buildings with roofs torn off and a destroyed bank branch.

ILLINOIS

Intense thunderstorms and tornadoes flattened neighborhoods, ripped off roofs and sent trees toppling across the state. At least six people were killed, including, an elderly man and his sister who died when a tornado struck their farmhouse in rural New Minden in southern Illinois, officials said.

One of the worst-hit areas was the western Illinois town of Washington, where a tornado razed houses and sent cars flying through the air. The National Weather Service says the tornado had a preliminary rating of EF-4, meaning wind speeds of 170 mph to 190 mph.

Gov. Pat Quinn declared a disaster in seven counties.

As high winds slammed into the Chicago area, officials at Soldier Field evacuated the stands and order the Bears and Ravens off the field. Fans were allowed back to their seats shortly after 2 p.m., and the game resumed after about a two-hour delay.

MICHIGAN

High winds and rain slammed into the western part of the state, downing trees and power lines and leaving about more than 500,000 homes and businesses without power.

Jackson County Sheriff Steven Rand said a 21-year-old driver in Leslie died when a fallen tree crushed his car Sunday night. The Shiawassee County sheriff’s department said a 59-year-old man was found dead and entangled in high-voltage power wires in Perry after going outside late Sunday to investigate a noise.

Churches in western Michigan canceled evening worship services and some schools canceled classes in the southeast, including more than 100 in the Detroit area.

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

Heavy winds from storms rolling through Ohio caused damage to buildings and left tens of thousands without power.

Wood County Director of Emergency Management Brad Gilbert says that two people suffered minor injuries when their house was damaged in Jerry City, about 10 miles southeast of Bowling Green.

Winds toppled one of two screens at a drive-in movie theater in the Toledo suburb of Oregon.

KENTUCKY

Tornadoes were spotted in at least eight Kentucky counties and at least one home had its roof blown off, a spokesman for the Kentucky Emergency Management said.

Buddy Rogers said it was unclear how many of those tornadoes actually touched down. He said a home in Rochester in Butler County had its roof blown off and there were reports of damages to homes and other structures in the various counties, but no reports of injuries.

WISCONSIN

Strong winds knocked out power to thousands in the Milwaukee area, damaged buildings and downed trees in Dodge County and sent Sunday churchgoers scrambling into church basements for safety.

In the town of Hustisford, cattle sheds, garages and storage sheds were damaged, said Dodge County Emergency Management Director Joseph Meagher said. No injuries were immediately reported, he said.

MISSOURI

Severe storms slammed the eastern part of Missouri, leaving tens of thousands without power and destroying a mobile home.

The National Weather Service said the storm tore shingles off of roofs and uprooted trees across parts of St. Louis and St. Louis County. Ameren Missouri reported more than 37,000 outages Sunday afternoon, mostly in the St. Louis area.

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