Northern Indiana tornado injures 2 in horse-drawn buggy, damages barns
LAGRANGE, Ind. (WISH) — Two people received minor injuries, a barn was destroyed, and another barn was left without a roof in a Tuesday afternoon storm that appeared to have a tornado, the LaGrange County Emergency Management and the National Weather Service reports.
The tornado was one of at least three confirmed to hit northern Indiana on Tuesday afternoon. Northern Indiana, southern Michigan and northwest Ohio had multiple tornado warnings issued Tuesday afternoon and night from the weather service office in Syracuse, Indiana.
The tornado warning for LaGrange County was issued just after 5 p.m. Monday for the northern Indiana county, and was upgraded about 10 minutes later to an observed tornado warning.
The injuries happened when the tornado overturned a horse-drawn buggy, said Bill Morr, director of the county’s Emergency Management. The weather service says that happened in the 2900 block of County Road East 300 South.
LaGrange County is about an hour’s drive by car northwest of Fort Wayne.
The weather service on Wednesday said the LaGrange County tornado had peak winds of 95 mph, traveled nearly 2 miles, and was 125 years at its maximum width. The LaGrange County tornado had originally began in nearby Noble County.
The Noble County tornado hit about 4:13 p.m. and lasted more than 20 minutes. It traveled nearly 7.5 miles, has a maximum speed of 105 mph, and was 230 yards at its widest. No injuries were reported. On damage, the weather service said, “This tornado started just east of Engle Lake, knocking down some trees in a residential area. As it continued northward, some of the strongest damage was sustained to a house, which had some of its roofing ripped off and a wall pushed in. Other houses and farm buildings sustained roof damage and more trees were knocked down or snapped as it continued on crossing highway 6. One large chicken building had its entire outer shell removed. It came to an end just before the Noble/Lagrange county line.”
The third tornado hit the Mishawaka area, coming down amid retail businesses with winds up to 70 mph. The tornado traveled just over a quarter of a mile and was 260 yards at its widest. The tornado touched down in the Meijer department store parking lot along North Main Street about a mile south of I-90, and downed trees and damaged the nearby La-Z-Boy store and the Potbelly Sandwich Shop. Downed tree limbs were also reported at the near Raising Cain’s restaurant. The tornado dissipated near the Saint Joseph Health System’s Mishawaka Medical Center. No injuries were reported.
Also, the weather service’s Louisville, Kentucky, office has confirmed a tornado hit Tuesday afternoon in southern Indiana in Clarksville, Indiana. Damage included a bent crossing arm for a railroad, and tree damage. The tornado touched down at 1:40 p.m. Tuesday, traveled 4 miles, had 80 mph gusts, and had a maximum width of 100 yards.
Earlier this week, a landspout tornado hit Yorktown on Sunday night and damaged a construction business, shortly before two twisters were reported in Jay County and its county seat, Portland. The Portland tornado has closed the Jay County Junior-Senior High School through at least Monday.