Massive Tornado Evansville

[Weatherfreak14]

I have tons of family that live in or near ellis park in evansville and their are several deaths. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,174687,00.html

[Skywatch_NC]

One of our S2K members named Donna (isobar) lives in Newburgh, IN where there was major damage, too!!

Watching footage of the aftermath this morning on CNN.

Eric

[tomboudreau]

Hoping and praying that this type of weather does not get me hear in the Pittsburgh area today. But its already quiet windy this morning and the sky has an omnious look to it this morning as I look at from my office window.

[Skywatch_NC]

This kind of destruction reminds me of when a part of Raleigh was hit hard by a deadly tornado in late November 1988!

Eric

[Skywatch_NC]

Hoping and praying that this type of weather does not get me hear in the Pittsburgh area today. But its already quiet windy this morning and the sky has an omnious look to it this morning as I look at from my office window.

Take care, Wxbuddy, and be safe!

[Miss Mary]

I immediately thought of Donna! Please check in when you can, Donna!

Weatherfreak14 - praying this very minute your family and friends are safe.

We heard the storms roll thru here in Cincinnati, but they would have hit Evansville first, no reports yet of damage in my area. Just extremely heavy rain, thunder that seemed to go on for minutes, roll after roll, and our power went out for 2.5 hours.

Please check in later wxfreak14 when you can report on your loved ones (you too Donna!). Going to PM you right now.

Mary

[Skywatch_NC]

I read where the first touchdown was in/near Henderson, KY and then skipped across the Ohio River into IN!

Eric

[Miss Mary]

OMG, I did see that news scroll on a local channel. Only one of our 4 have local news on right now. I guess that's a good sign my area just had storms out of this front. My scroll said 3 horses died in Henderson, at a horse park.

PM'ed Donna. Started a thread asking for prayers, on the Off Topic board.

Mary

[P.K.]

Tornado 'kills 11' in US Midwest

A powerful tornado has killed at least 11 people and injured dozens of others in the US state of Indiana, local emergency officials say.

Seven people are reported to have killed at a mobile home park in Evansville, while four people are said to have been killed in Newburgh.

The storm hit southern Indiana and parts of Kentucky at about 0200 local time (0800 GMT).

Alarm sirens sounded only about 10 minutes before the tornado hit.

Newburgh assistant fire chief Chad Bennett said: "Most people were asleep. They probably didn't hear the sirens.

"We've had severe damage. Homes were totally devastated."

He added the death toll could climb as rescue workers searched through rubble.

Local officials are said to have declared a local state of emergency, the first step toward requesting state assistance.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4412180.stm

[Miss Mary]

Here's a local article I found. Found one for Evansville, IN but you have to join the paper, to read the article. This was from a different newsite:

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/K/ ... TE=DEFAULT

Mary

[Brent]

Very bad...

I've always feared nighttime tornadoes for this very reason.

[jkt21787]

Death Toll up to 15

[simplykristi]

That is sad.

Kristi

[Miss Mary]

Let's pray it stops at 15.

We had a family that lived on our street, relocate to the Evansville, Indiana area. One of the things they missed most was having a basement. For a reason I can't recall right now, homes in this area cannot have basements. Which is a frightening thought for these poor people caught in harms way. Can anyone confirm this info I heard long ago - you cannot have a home with a basement in Evansville?

Mary

[vbhoutex]

If I am remebering correctly, Donna lives just outside of Newburgh or maybe just outside of Evansville in Newburgh. Praying right now for her and her family and weatherfreak14's family and friends.
Please check in soon Donna and WF14 let us know as soon as you hear anything.

[Miss Mary]

David - I think you are right, I remember she does live closer to Newburgh, but tells people Evansville, for point of reference I guess. Let's hope Newburgh was in the clear. She might be w/o power though, for quite a while.

Weatherfreak14 - have you been able to get in touch with your family/friends from Evansville yet?

Mary

[Brent]

Death toll up to 17, 200 injured.

[Skywatch_NC]

Indiana Twister Kills At Least 17

POSTED: 10:22 am EST November 6, 2005
UPDATED: 11:38 am EST November 6, 2005

EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- A tornado ripped across southwestern Indiana and northern Kentucky early Sunday, killing at least 15 people, wrecking homes and knocking out power to thousands, authorities said.

The tornado touched down near Henderson, Ky., and jumped the Ohio River into Indiana at around 2 a.m.

Indiana homeland security spokeswoman Pam Bright said 15 deaths had been confirmed in the state's southwest corner around Evansville.

Of those killed, Bright said 10 people died on the southeast side of Evansville in the Eastbrook Mobile Home Park, and that victims were still being pulled from the debris by late morning.

Bright said the park, with about 350 homes, was devastated by the twister.

"We're treating the trailer park as a mass disaster area," Eric Williams, chief deputy of the Vanderburgh County sheriff's department, told the Evansville Courier and Press.

Five others were confirmed dead in adjoining Warrick County, east of Evansville, where the Ohio River city of Newburgh was struck after 2 a.m., Bright said.

The tornado developed in a line of thunderstorms that rolled rapidly eastward across the Ohio Valley during the morning. The National Weather Service posted severe thunderstorm warnings for sections of northern Ohio.

The damage path through Newburgh, eight miles east of Evansville, was about three-quarters of a mile wide, and extended for roughly 20 miles, Assistant Fire Chief Chad Bennett told CNN. He said emergency sirens sounded, but most people didn't hear them because it happened in the middle of the night.

No deaths were reported in Kentucky, said Michelle King, a dispatcher with the Henderson County sheriff's office.

At the Ellis Park racetrack, between Evansville and Henderson, Ky., the Henderson County Sheriff's department said about half of the track's grandstands had been destroyed, along with horse barns and housing units.

There were conflicting reports of injuries at the track. Paul Kuerzi, the track's vice president and general manager, said several people were injured, but Larry Koerber of the Henderson County emergency management office said there was one minor injury. Koerber said four or five horses were dead.

Mike Roeder, a spokesman for utility company Vectren, said 25,000 homes were without power, mostly in Warrick County. There also were reports of natural gas leaks.

Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press.

http://www.wral.com/weather/5262578/detail.html

[tomboudreau]

Getting seriously black here now. Winds have been gusting to over 35 miles per hour already. The generator at the office has already kicked on as we lost power briefly. Not sure if its still on or not. To my west, its black, but the sun is still shining outside. Its just a matter of time now.

[wxmann_91]

Very sad news.

Take care tomboudreau.

Prayers to those affected and also weatherfreak14's family and friends and isobar.