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Tornado cuts wide path across Central Indiana

Posted at 6:14 PM, Aug 15, 2016
and last updated 2016-08-16 13:16:38-04

There were multiple reports of tornado touchdowns in Central Indiana Monday evening, covering an area from Hendricks to Tipton counties.

The National Weather Service reported a confirmed funnel cloud report at 5:55 p.m. near Danville. The Department of Homeland Security made its own report a short time later of a tornado over Danville moving northeast at 25 miles per hours.

See more videos of tornado touchdowns in the video player at the top of the page.

A tornado was then spotted over Brownsburg around 6:11 p.m., with multiple reports of trees and tree limbs down in the area.

"I saw it form from our backyard, and then we ran to the bathroom to hide," 8-year-old Micah Helmholz said.

This was the first tornado for Micah's mother, Jennifer, who told RTV6 she just moved to Brownsburg from California.

"Really quickly it changed and debris was flying," Helmholz said. "We ran to the bathroom and you could hear it. It was pretty loud."  

A trained spotter in Howard County reported a tornado touchdown with barn and crop damage around 8:00 p.m.

Damage reports from strong winds and possible tornadic activity were also made in Boone, Marion and Hamilton counties.

Click the image below to see photos of damage from Monday's storms:

In Whitestown, a barn along County Road 500 South was leveled. Several pieces of equipment inside were damaged as well. A large grain bin nearby was also damaged beyond repair.

Even early on, damage estimates for that property alone were into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. 

While the tornadoes did structural damage to several barns and detached garages, no injuries were reported from any of the touchdowns.