Storms batter state

Storm-weary central Indiana started cleaning up Wednesday after a second bout of severe weather in five nights crossed the region, with a tornado ripping apart much of a tiny Rush County community.

One person died and at least 10 were injured because of the storms.

There wasn't much respite as more storms moved into the state Wednesday afternoon, giving rise to floodwaters and additional tornado reports.

The wave of thunderstorms that began Tuesday also caused a tornado that skipped over National Guard barracks full of soldiers along with widespread flash flooding as 5 inches of rain was reported overnight in some areas.

Thunderstorms resulted in motorists being stranded on flooded roads in Jennings County, and many trees were knocked down across North Vernon.

One woman died in Henry County when she drove her car into rushing floodwaters north of New Castle Wednesday morning, state police said.

Another woman was critically injured when a tornado late Tuesday destroyed her home in Moscow, a community of fewer than 20 homes in Rush County.

Diane Hester, 66, was impaled in the upper chest by a 3-inch diameter tree limb when the tornado leveled her home along the Flatrock River, said Charles Smith, chief of the Posey Township Volunteer Fire Department.

Hester was in critical but stable condition at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, hospital spokesman Gene Ford said.

Smith, who helped rescue Hester, said she was awake when she was found in storm debris near the river.

"Her house was gone, along the side of the river bank. There's nothing left of it," he said. "She didn't talk, but she was moaning. I just hope she makes it."

Neighbors, friends, family and church members came to Moscow to help clear branches, twisted metal and other debris in the community about 35 miles southeast of Indianapolis.

The tornado, with wind speeds the National Weather Service estimated near 150 mph, also tore away the roof and top floor of an old red brick schoolhouse and broke apart the town's landmark 1886 wooden covered bridge, sending it into the river below. The community had planned its 23rd annual Moscow Covered Bridge Festival later this month.

Jolene Icenogle, who lives just outside of Moscow and has been involved with the festival in past years, said she wasn't sure what planners would do now.
"There's nothing left of it except the cement pillars," she said. "I was pretty devastated."

Brian Colestock, whose house is between Hester's and the covered bridge, said he heard the storm approaching Tuesday night and gathered in a first-floor bathroom with his wife and two children, ages 13 and 8. All four stood in the bathtub as their house shook, roof tiles blew off and glass windows broke.

When the noise stopped, Colestock walked out of his damaged house to see tall trees downed, the covered bridge in the river and his neighbor's house completely gone. Colestock's back deck was smashed and the air conditioner was pulled off its base, he said.

"It's just amazing that it did that much damage in a matter of a minute," he said. "I was just thankful to God that my family was safe. Nothing else is more important than that."

As the storm moved through the surrounding farmland, it turned several houses to rubble, left cars and other vehicles overturned in waterlogged fields and leveled acres of trees.

Another tornado late Tuesday damaged 40 buildings at the Indiana National Guard's Camp Atterbury, about 25 miles south of Indianapolis. Two soldiers suffered minor injuries as they sought shelter, Guard Capt. Greg Lundeberg said. The weather service estimated that storm's wind speeds topped out around 130 mph.

More than 2,000 troops are at the camp, including a Marine unit training for deployment to Iraq, and the tornado skipped over buildings where they were sleeping, Lundeberg said. Gov. Mitch Daniels was set to tour the camp Thursday morning.

The storm also damaged several homes near the Shelby County town of Waldron, which is about midway between Edinburgh and Moscow.

Flash flooding was reported in parts of Indiana on Wednesday and firefighters in Randolph County headed out at 4 a.m. rescuing people, Sheriff Jay Harris said. More flooding was reported in several counties Wednesday afternoon.

More storms moved through the state Wednesday night, and the National Weather Service said its radar tracked a tornado east of Rensselaer in northwest Indiana. Jasper County authorities said the tornado was unconfirmed and no damage was reported.