State police: Tornado destroyed at least 80 homes in Kokomo
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - At least 80 homes were destroyed and 1,000 more were damaged when a tornado slammed into a central Indiana city this week, state police said Friday, as another storm unrooted trees and stranded drivers in floodwaters in Indianapolis.
The National Weather Service confirmed Friday that at least 10 tornadoes hit the state during storms Wednesday, including an EF3 tornado with winds of up to 152 mph that slammed the city of Kokomo, about 40 miles north of Indianapolis. The latest confirmations were of two weak tornadoes that caused little damage just outside Kokomo and the nearby city of Peru.
Of the properties hit in Kokomo, some 170 of them sustained serious damage, Indiana State Police Sgt. Tony Slocum said.
About 140 people remained at a Red Cross shelter in Kokomo Friday morning as cleanup work continued and utility crews tried to restore power. About 25,000 homes and businesses initially lost power. By Friday afternoon, utility Duke Energy reported fewer than 4,000 properties without electricity and estimated all would have power restored by Saturday night.
Kokomo High School's football game scheduled Friday night at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis was called off, with the team's players and coaches and those from rival Hamilton Heights volunteering for cleanup duties.
Kokomo coach Brett Colby called the Hamilton Heights effort an "outstanding gesture."
"Sometimes, there's a greater good, and I think this is one of those times," Colby told the Kokomo Tribune.
About a dozen team members had their homes or those of relatives damaged in Wednesday's storm, he said.
Another storm flooded streets and damaged buildings in Indianapolis Friday morning. The Indianapolis mayor's office said that emergency crews helped more than 15 people from vehicles stuck in high water.
Winds of about 60 mph blew trees onto homes and across streets.
Firefighters responded to house fires caused by downed power lines or lightning, but no injuries were immediately reported.
Indianapolis Power & Light Co. said about 22,000 homes and businesses lost electricity, with the vast majority on the city's north and northeast sides.