Photo courtesy of Associated Press
Katherine Gates looks through debris from her mobile home in Eastbrook Mobile Home Park in Evansville, Ind. Mobile home park residents returned to the devastation for the first time since the tornado that killed 18 people in their neighborhood. --AP
A tornado slammed into southern Indiana around 2 a.m. Sunday, killing at least 23 people, injuring hundreds and destroying thousands of dollars worth of property.
The tornado, which cut a path of destruction approximately 20 miles long and three-quarters of a mile wide through northern Kentucky and into Evansville, Ind., was the most severe the area has seen in decades.
“[Tornados are] a common thing but not as much as other places,” said freshman David Yount of Franklin, Ind. “When we do get them, though, they’re pretty severe, but not to the extent of last weekend.”
Yount was in Franklin the night the tornado hit and said he felt some of the effects from nearly 200 miles away.
Yount has several friends who attend the University of Evansville, but all made it through the tornado unscathed.
Not so for some of the acquaintances of senior Steve Upchurch, who resides in Rockport, Ind., just 20 miles outside Evansville.
One of Upchurch’s former neighbors was killed when the tornado struck and decimated her mobile home in the Eastbrook Mobile Home Park, one of the locations hit hardest by the storm.
Upchurch also said his uncle witnessed the destruction firsthand—right across the street from his home, his neighbor’s house was flattened, killing everyone inside.
Fortunately, Upchurch’s family was in Hillsdale for the weekend for his last football game. His older sister received a call from friends in Evansville around 2 a.m. who advised her to take cover in her basement, not knowing she was in Michigan.
“I’m glad that they were up here and out of harm’s way,” Upchurch, a defensive lineman for the Chargers, said.
When he goes home for Thanksgiving in two weeks, Upchurch will witness the damage firsthand.
“They’ll pick up all the debris but you’ll still see the effects for probably a year or two, see trees damaged and houses destroyed,” he said. “You can still see the effects from the last tornado eight or nine years ago.”
Upchurch said the recent disaster has made him more fearful of tornados. Since the storm hit at 2 a.m. most people were in bed and didn’t hear the warning sirens or television announcements.
“We’re starting to get more information on tornadoes and can predict them better than ever before, but it’s hard to inform people at 2 a.m.,” Upchurch said. “It definitely makes you more fearful because tornados can strike at anytime, but if you can’t hear the warnings you’re not in a good position.”