Tornados And Violent Weather Damages Indiana Homes

On June 24th, low, flat, dark clouds were spotted in the I-65 corridor southwest of Indianapolis. These clouds spawned a tornado that touched down in the afternoon. It damaged a homes in the city and its outskirts. It was so strong that it brought down power lines and uprooted large trees. The tornado was accompanied by widespread hailstorms. If you were a victim of this type of storm, you need to contact a property damage attorney to be certain your rights as a homeowner are protected. These low-hanging clouds were responsible for numerous thunderstorms that raged across southwestern Indiana from Terre Haute to Indianapolis. As they moved northeast, they continued gathering strength and became more severe before reaching the suburbs of Indianapolis. Mike Ryan, a National Weather Service meteorologist, said the twister destroyed at least three homes in Hendricks County, but no injuries were reported. Based on the 0-to-5 enhanced Fujita scale, this tornado was a level EF1 with winds up to 100 miles per hour. A storm survey team’s report said that it picked up a camper and dropped it on the roof of a home, which destroyed the camper and nearly 50 percent of the roof. The winds were so strong that some 200 cars at an auto auction site were damaged. Heavy rains and the high winds uprooted several trees in Indianapolis. Some of the trees landed on cars. Coincidentally, the storm struck while 20 people were being trained to be chimney sweepers in the town of Plainfield, which is almost 15 miles southwest of Indianapolis. A spokesman for the Chimney Safety Institute, Tom Spalding, said the trainees received weather alerts on their cell phones. They could see what appeared to be a funnel cloud in the distance. Spalding said that he did not know what he was looking at, but he took a photo of the dark cloud with his cell phone. He said that he witnessed a large, gray, ugly blob that appeared to be very violent. It moved slowly across the horizon. Wayne Township Fire Captain Mike Pruitt said that a few homes sustained roof damage and numerous other houses had their siding ripped off and windows broken by the winds. Pruitt said that fortunately most people had gone to work, and those who were in their homes had received adequate warning. Had more people been in their homes, there might have been injuries. The city of Indianapolis opened an operations center to organize its response to the storm, according to Homeland Security Director Gary Coons. Coons said that it was unclear whether it was straight line winds or a tornado that hit Indianapolis. At this point, the operations center was merely trying to assess the situation and tally the damages. Over 1,700 customers were left without service, according to Indianapolis Power and Light Co. It was the second consecutive day of power outages attributable to storms in the city. In the southern suburb of Greenwood, Duke Energy said that almost 800 customers suffered a power outage. Due to the heavy rains, the weather service issued flash flood warnings for a large portion of central Indiana. About 40 miles southwest of Indianapolis, the city of Cloverdale had 2 to 4 inches of water flowing across Route 42, according to the weather service. Indiana is in the heart of the northern tornado alley. Over the last ten years, there has been an average of 20 tornadoes per year in Indiana. Two people, on average, die each year from tornadoes. The United States Geological Survey says that parts of Indiana are in the highest risk category, so it is wise to be sure your homeowner’s policy covers storm damage, including the effects of hailstorms, torrential rains and gusting winds. It is also advisable to have a property damage lawyer on your team.