A storm damage assessment team from the National Weather Service in Indianapolis confirmed Saturday that at least some of the storm damage on Friday was done by a twister.
Storm damage just to the east of Greenwood in Johnson County was caused by a tornado, weather service officials said. The assessment crews were sent to Johnson, Shelby and Hendricks County to survey damage done to homes and trees in those areas. Determinations had not yet been made in Shelby and Hendricks counties.
The fast-moving storms did damage to at least 20 homes in Shelby County in the Fairland area. Other homes were substantially damaged just east of Greenwood. Some minor injuries were reported in Shelby County.
The storm damaged several warehouses and outbuildings around Greenwood, where downed trees and utility poles caused many power outages, city police Lt. Robert Dine said.
"We've got witnesses who did see a funnel cloud drop out of the sky and do the damage to the houses with roof damage and a lot of damage to the industrial area," he said.
Video: Fire Capt.: Winds 'Picked Up' Car On I-74
Video: Homes Damaged In Johnson County
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Just east of Greenwood, the top half of a house was smashed to pieces. The ground was littered with bricks and other debris from the house, and sections of pine trees that had been in the front yard came to rest in the back yard,
6News' Dan Spehler reported. No one had been in the house when the storm hit.
An amateur radio operator reported seeing a tornado in the Greenwood area, near Interstate 65 and Main Street, at 7:29 p.m., according to the National Weather Service.
At about the same time, a tractor-trailer was blown over on I-65 near Greenwood Road, causing a multiple-vehicle accident, police told
6News' Jeremy Brilliant. No injuries were reported.
The storm also led to a couple of crashes on I-74 in Shelby County, about 10 miles southeast of Indianapolis, shortly before 8 p.m. In one incident, a car was caught up by what was believed to be a tornado, said Moral Township fire Capt. Joe Barton Sr.
"We have eyewitness accounts," Barton told
6News' Tanya Spencer. "One woman on the Interstate saw the tornado coming across the Interstate. Her car was actually picked up and spun and set down in the median. The only way that you can get that rotation is from a tornado."
Crashes on I-74 also were caused by debris that had been blown onto the highway, state police Cpl. Jeff Simmons said.
Troopers closed part of I-74 for about 45 minutes while the debris, mostly from trees, and the crashes were cleaned up, Simmons said.
At 7:44 p.m., a trained weather spotter reported seeing a tornado near Morristown, the weather service said. The Morristown report was made about five minutes after an amateur radio operator reported seeing a tornado about 11 miles west of Shelbyville, near Interstate 74 and London Road.
The storm prompted numerous reports of damage in Shelby County. Officials said at least six homes there were destroyed and at least a dozen more were damaged.
Some injuries were reported in the Fairland area around one suspected Shelby County tornado site, said John Ogren, a meteorologist for National Weather Service in Indianapolis.
"These storms were also prolific hail producers. We've had reports of golfball-sized hail," Ogren said. "We got hail from these because we are getting more into the spring type of storm. They have stronger updrafts and have more wind and hail."
A number of other tornado warnings were issued for central and south-central Indiana because radar was indicating storms capable of producing a tornado. (
Check warnings, watches.)
The storms came as a cold front moved in from the west. Reports of downed trees, power lines and hail were being made in several central Indiana counties, 6News reported.
Before the storms arrived, the weather service warned that storms could produce large hail and damaging winds in excess of 60 mph.
The same system produced severe thunderstorms that
spawned tornadoes in several Midwestern states Thursday, causing damage.
Showers and thunderstorms got into the state early Friday morning. None of those storms were severe. The sun came out behind Friday's storms, fueling an unstable atmosphere.
The National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center placed all but extreme northwestern Indiana in a slight risk area for severe storms Friday.
Another storm threat looms on Sunday. The entire state of Indiana is under a slight risk for severe weather as a potent storm system moves through the Midwest. The National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center said a tornado outbreak is possible Sunday, but more likely in Illinois and portions of Iowa and Missouri.
Stay with Storm Team 6 and TheIndyChannel.com for the latest severe weather information.
Copyright 2007 by TheIndyChannel.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
