Indiana was one of several midwestern states hit by tornadoes Sunday, and Governor Mike Pence has taken a helicopter tour of Hoosier communities that were hardest hit by the severe weather. Wide swaths of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin saw scores of tornadoes touch down, leaving at least 6 dead.
Pence is scheduled to survey Kokomo, Lafayette and Washington, while the National Weather Services dispatched three teams to assess storm destruction. Homeowners and businesses across the state are likewise gauging the damages and are planning their next steps. Senator Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., will join Pence for the Kokomo tour.
Below is footage captured of a tornado near Decker, Indiana, roughly 45 miles north of Evansville:
The hardest-hit area appeared to be Kokomo, 60 miles north of Indianapolis. Kokomo and Howard County lifted their states of emergency at 6 a.m., though traffic is still banned from storm-damaged areas.
Sunday’s tornadoes injured at least three people and cut power to thousands in the region. According to Duke Energy, 25,668 customers without power across the state, as of 9:15 a.m. Monday, with the highest concentration in Tippecanoe County (Lafayette), with 12,605. Howard County (Kokomo) recorded 6,996 customers without power, with another 4,883 customers across Marion County. Indiana Michigan Power reported another 26,000 customers without power across the state, including 12,000 in South Bend and another 5,900 in Fort Wayne. Crews are still working to restore power.
Elsewhere in the midwest region of the US, damage was more severe. Some residents of the affected areas said that their entire neighborhoods had been flattened. Washington, Illinois resident Tyler Gee said, “I went over there immediately after the tornado, walking through the neighborhoods, and I couldn’t even tell what street I was on. Just completely flattened–some of the neighborhoods here in town, hundreds of homes.”
Image via YouTube.