Five Hoosiers are now confirmed dead as a result of Friday night’s massive line of storms that created 17 tornadoes that touched down across Indiana.
It’s being called the worst outbreak of tornadoes in Indiana since an outbreak of 22 tornadoes in August of 2016. Three people were killed in an EF3 tornado that touched down in Sullivan. Now two people who were camper in McCormicks Creek State Park are also said to have died because of the storms.
The damage was the worst in Sullivan as well as Whiteland where another EF3 tornado touched down.
“Trees snapped in two. Power lines obviously down. Homes and businesses, roofs ripped off. Countless spots of destruction all over the state,” said Gov. Eric Holcomb in a Saturday press conference in Sullivan where he toured the storm damage.
“This is an all-hands-on-deck effort,” he added. “This isn’t going to be we parachute in one day and are gone the next.”
Holcomb declared a state of emergency for Sullivan and Johnson Counties but said that as many as 18 counties were impacted by significant damage from the outbreak of tornadoes.
There were two tornadoes that impacted Johnson County, an EF3 near Whiteland and an EF0 near Bargersville. There was the EF3 in Sullivan County, along with tornadoes to the north with three in Howard County, two EF1s, and an EF0, in Clinton County, an EF0. There was an EF2 that touched down in Morgan County that was on the ground for 8 miles.
Finally, an EF3 tornado hit Owen and Monroe Counties, which is where the two campers were at McCormicks Creek State Park.
8 tornadoes hit the far northern portion of the state as well with the National Weather Service confirming touchdowns in Cass, Allen, and White Counties. The strongest of those was an EF2 in Allen County. Three tornadoes also hit Benton County.
Holcomb said he is in contact with federal emergency responders with FEMA as well to see if any federal assistance can be brought in to help with the recovery. There are still about 1,500 Duke Energy residents without power in Morgan and Johnson Counties. Power has been nearly fully restored in Sullivan County.
