EF1 Tornado Confirmed in Ripley County, Indiana

[Dave]

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH
414 PM EDT MON MAR 9 2009

...EF1 TORNADO CONFIRMED IN NORTHEAST RIPLEY COUNTY...

A NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DAMAGE SURVEY HAS CONFIRMED A TORNADO
TOUCHDOWN IN NORTHEAST RIPLEY COUNTY ABOUT THREE MILES SOUTH OF
SUNMAN ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON MARCH 8.

THE TORNADO BRIEFLY TOUCHED DOWN IN TWO LOCATIONS JUST WEST AND
NORTH OF THE INTERSECTION OF INDIANA STATE ROUTES 101 AND 48. THE
FIRST AREA OF DAMAGE OCCURRED ON A PROPERTY LOCATED ALONG STATE
ROUTE 48 ABOUT A QUARTER MILE WEST OF THE INTERSECTION OF STATE
ROUTES 48 AND 101. A LARGE TWO-STORY BARN SUSTAINED ROOF DAMAGE
AND HAD BOTH METAL GARAGE DOORS BLOWN OUT. MUCH OF THE NORTH-
FACING WALL OF THE GARAGE AND SEVERAL SMALL OBJECTS IN THE BARN
WERE BLOWN OUT AND THROWN INTO AN ADJACENT CORNFIELD TO THE
NORTHEAST. A SECOND SMALLER BARN BEHIND THE HOME HAD THE BACK PART
OF ITS METAL ROOF PEELED OR REMOVED. TWO CEDAR TREES IN THE
VICINITY OF THE LARGE BARN WERE UPROOTED. THE HOMEOWNER AND HIS
SON BOTH WITNESSED THE TORNADO LIFT UP IN THE CORNFIELD AND THEN
COME BACK DOWN IN THE VICINITY OF STATE ROUTE 101 JUST NORTH OF
ITS INTERSECTION WITH STATE ROUTE 48. IT WAS IN THIS LOCATION THAT
THE SECOND AREA OF DAMAGE WAS LOCATED.

THE MOST SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE WAS IN THIS LOCATION ALONG STATE ROUTE
101...TO A STAND-ALONE GARAGE AND THE BACK PORTION OF A HOUSE. THE
FRONT PART OF THE GARAGE HAD ITS ROOF COMPLETELY REMOVED AND
DEPOSITED IN A FEW PARTS IN THE FIELD TO THE EAST OF THE
PROPERTY. SEVERAL PIECES OF THE ROOF TRUSSES AND FIBERGLASS WERE
SCATTERED BEHIND THE GARAGE AS WELL. INSULATION WAS STUCK TO THE
ENTIRE SOUTH SIDE OF THE GARAGE...AND THE WEST-FACING GARAGE DOOR
WAS BLOWN OUT. THE BACK PART OF THE GARAGE REMAINED LARGELY INTACT
WITH LITTLE ROOF DAMAGE. THE HOMEOWNERS INDICATED THAT THIS PART
OF THE GARAGE WAS BUILT AT A LATER TIME THAN THE FRONT PART OF THE
GARAGE. ADDITIONAL DAMAGE OCCURRED TO A BACK ROOM TO THE HOUSE.
THIS WAS AN ADDITION TO THE HOUSE...BUILT AT THE SAME TIME AS THE
FRONT PORTION OF THE GARAGE WHICH SUSTAINED THE BRUNT OF THE
DAMAGE. THE ENTIRE ROOM WAS SHIFTED OFF THE FOUNDATION BY AS MUCH
AS SIX INCHES AND THE DOOR WAS BLOWN OUT. SEVERAL MAPLE TREES
ALONG THE BACK EDGE OF THE PROPERTY WERE KNOCKED DOWN.

BASED ON THE TYPE OF DAMAGE TO THE STRUCTURES AND HOW THEY WERE
BUILT...ESTIMATED MAXIMUM WINDS ARE 85 TO 90 MPH WHICH CORRELATES
TO THE LOW END OF THE EF1 CATEGORY. EF1 WINDS RANGE FROM 86 TO 109
MPH. THE BROKEN PATH LENGTH WAS ABOUT 0.5 MILES. PATH WIDTH WAS
ABOUT 25 YARDS.

$$

Pictures & Information here..

http://www.erh.noaa.gov/iln/2009-03-08/index.html