Severe weather hits central Indiana Wednesday

BOONE COUNTY, Ind. (WISH) – Central Indiana was hit with severe weather, including high-speed winds and even tornadoes.

The first warnings were issued around 2:30 Wednesday afternoon. Minutes later a tornado watch was issued for a number of central Indiana counties.

Howard County seemed to get the worst of the severe weather. A Starbucks in Kokomo was severely damaged when it was essentially flattened.

A state of emergency was later issued for all of Howard County until 9 p.m.  During a press conference, Howard County officials confirmed that nine funnels clouds were confirmed. There were no injuries reported in Howard County.

Preliminary reports state that an EF-3 touched down in Howard County, with an EF-1 tornado just east of Crawfordsville.

In Montgomery County, crops were heavily damaged as a result of the storms. Several hundred acres of corn were flattened due to the high-speed winds.  Also, Montgomery County officials reported no injuries in the area.

In Marion County, heavy rain lead to a number of flooded roads.

The severe weather also lead to a number of power outages.  Just before 8 p.m. Duke Energy was reporting 29,000 outages, while Indianapolis Power and Light report 7,500 customers without power.

For the latest and most up-to-date severe weather information, click here.