Two Hoosier Communities Evaluated for Tornado Damages

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INDIANAPOLIS — Surveyors from the National Weather Service are checking for tornado damage in at least two communities in Northern Indiana. Overnight, severe storms caused power outages for thousands of Hoosiers, with many reporting uprooted trees and downed power lines in their neighborhoods.

“Tornado surveys can often take a few days just because it takes a while for us to determine where the damage was. Drive out there, take photos, and interview emergency management,” says Maddie Johnson with the National Weather Service.

Johnson says that when storms hit, surveyors often check to see if straight-line winds or tornadoes caused the damage.

“So, if I had two trees, I was looking at whether the trees had fallen in the same direction; that is probably straight-line wind damage,” says Johnson. “If they had fallen convergent towards each other, then that’s more indicative of rotation.”

Johnson says that when the NWS talks to eyewitnesses, they sometimes hear about power flashes or lightning strikes at night. She says this can be a sign of rotation during nighttime storms.

Two areas being studied today for possible tornadoes are La Porte and Elkhart Counties.

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