8:30 p.m. UPDATE
The National Weather Service upgraded the rating of the Johnson County tornado to EF-2 just before 8 p.m. Monday.
The preliminary EF-2 twister had peak winds of 115 mph, touching down at 4:13 p.m. Sunday. It lasted for 10 minutes, having a path length of 5.4 miles, the agency said in a public information statement.
At its maximum width, the twister was anywhere from 200 to 400 yards wide, the NWS says.
If new information comes in, updates may be made to the twister’s information and rating, NWS Indianapolis said in a tweet.
ORIGINAL STORY
A single tornado touched down in Johnson County on Sunday, officials reported Monday afternoon as area residents began to clean up from the storms.
Storm survey teams from the National Weather Service surveyed the damaged areas of White River Township, Bargersville and Greenwood Monday, confirming that one tornado touched down in the county. The tornado has preliminarily been rated an EF-1, with winds between 100 to 110 mph, according to the NWS.
An exact damage path was not available before the print deadline on Monday.
The twister touched down in White River Township between 4-4:30 p.m. Sunday before moving east through areas on Greenwood’s south side. Dozens of residents took photos and videos of the twister as it passed through the area.
Photos and videos show funnel clouds of varying sizes in different locations across the county. It is possible multiple funnel clouds developed from the storm, but they may or may not have touched down.
The area with the most damage from the tornado was around State Road 135 north of Smokey Row Road and south of Stones Crossing — a densely populated area. A homeowner who lives near Mullinix and Travis roads told firefighters he saw the destructive funnel cloud form before his eyes, said Mike Pruitt, deputy chief of the Bargersville Community Fire Department.
During an emergency meeting of the Johnson County Board of Commissioners Monday afternoon, Johnson County Emergency Management Director Stephanie Sichting said the path of damage started at Travis and Mullinix roads and ripped through the Kensington Grove, Golden Grove, Stones Bay, Waters Edge and Clary Crossing subdivisions.
Houses on Travis Road and Kensington Grove saw the most damage. Kensington Grove had many roofs missing, and roof pieces were all over the place Monday, she said.
No deaths or injuries have been reported from the storm. At least 75 homes suffered moderate to severe damage in a 3-mile area as the tornado made its way through the area.
Tornadoes also touched down in Martin and Monroe counties Sunday. In Martin County, a tornado struck a home, killing one occupant and injuring another, the Associated Press reported.
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb said the Indiana Department of Homeland Security will have staff on the ground assessing the damage to help local jurisdictions determine their rebuilding and recovery needs.
“Our thoughts and hearts go out to those impacted by yesterday’s tornadoes,” Holcomb said in a tweet Monday morning.
Disaster declaration issued
The commissioners issued an emergency disaster declaration Monday evening for Johnson County. The declaration also included a new curfew for affected areas in unincorporated White River Township from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m.
The curfew was effective Monday evening and will be in continue until July 3.
It applies to the following area:
- Stones Crossing Road from Mullinix Road to State Road 135;
- Mullinix Road from Stones Crossing Road to Smokey Row Road;
- Morgantown Road from Smokey Row Road to Whiteland Road;
- Whiteland Road from Morgantown Road to Saddle Club Road;
- Saddle Club Road from Whiteland Road to Smokey Row Road;
- Smokey Row Road from Mullinix Road to State Road 135.
During the curfew, no one can travel on public streets or in public places within the affected unincorporated, unless exempt, the emergency declaration says. Those exempt include law enforcement, fire and medical personnel, people traveling to and from work and homeless people.
Fireworks will also be prohibited within the affected areas during the curfew.
Officials provide updates
Power has also been restored to a majority of residents who were without power. Some Duke Energy and Johnson County REMC customers still were without power as of mid-afternoon Monday, but both Duke Energy and JCREMC expected power to be restored Monday evening, officials said.
The Red Cross Shelter at Greenwood Middle School began transitioning into a reception center Monday, after they had not received any persons in need of shelter. Residents can obtain water and food if needed at this location, the Bargersville Fire Department said Monday morning.
A curfew that was in effect for storm-damaged areas of Bargersville on Sunday night was lifted on Monday morning.
The commissioners on Monday during their emergency meeting also decided to allow the highway department to hire contractors to pick up debris and trees residents place on the curbs. Debris has to be placed on the curb, and will not be picked up on private property, Sichting said.
Paying for help was another discussion point, and figuring out which fund it could come out of was still undetermined at the end of the meeting.
They were concerned that this area likely may not qualify for relief from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA. Sichting was not sure they could meet the $700,000 threshold in expenses and homeowners’ insurance deductibles.
There are also likely fewer people uninsured in this area, compared to Whiteland, which is what a lot of FEMA aid is used for, they said.
Johnson County Commissioners Kevin Walls and Brian Baird were out assessing the damage Sunday evening after the tornado swept through parts of unincorporated White River Township. On Monday morning at the regular Board of Commissioners meeting, Walls, Baird and Commissioner Ron West thanked first responders and the county highway department for their quick response on Sunday.
“It was amazing to watch that take place and how it took place and you were very efficient in what you did. So, thanks to all the departments and everybody that was involved,” Walls said.
By the time it was dark outside Sunday, first responders had all the affected subdivisions in the area cleared and conducted secondary searches, said Mike Hoffman, community liaison for the White River Township Fire Department. Hoffman attended the meeting on Monday to provide an update to the commissioners and also thank them for their help.
“The way that all the fire departments and the police departments handled it and everybody worked together is only because of the funding you guys have provided over the last few years,” Hoffman said.
Baird said he remains amazed by the community of Johnson County coming together to handle a disaster. It was only three months ago when the county was last in this situation.
“Johnson County does well, and that’s not anything to us, it’s to the people of Johnson County and all that they do,” Baird said. “… We didn’t have any deaths or anything. But just the devastation and the people wandering around with the shock of losing what they have. You go around and you see that and you just don’t know what you can do to help. But we have the people in place that do know what to do to help them.”
Recovery begins
At the corner of State Road 135 and Stones Crossing Road, rubble lines the edges of the street with power lines and stop signs leaning every which way.
The Greenwood location of JCBank had some windows busted out Sunday evening, after opening recently. Restoration and lawn care company Chris’ Lawn Care was out picking up glass and helping to restore the bank’s landscaping. One landscaper shared that just last week, they had laid the sod, only for it to be ripped up by the storm.
Just five minutes east in the Kensington Grove neighborhood, many homeowners lost siding and portions of their roofs. Terry Weddle, a long-time resident, was in the basement with his wife when the tornado ripped through their backyard.
“We were listening to Channel 6 and they talked about Noblesville and Bloomington but they didn’t say a word about here. I looked out and saw it right on the patio,” Weddle said, pointing to where his patio set once was before the tornado swept it away.
Weddle’s family was on his property helping clean up, with his grandkids leading the raking and garbage collection mission.
“They’re good people. Wouldn’t be able to do it without them,” he said.
Randell and Becky Lee live just a few hundred feet away from Weddle, but they lost much more.
While the tornado managed to spare the Lees’ personal photographs and belongings inside their house, it destroyed the couple’s garage, with rubble falling on four of their vehicles.
Randell was inside the home when the damage occurred. He said even though he was so close to the tornado, it wasn’t quite loud enough to make him think it had done that level of damage.
“I never expected it,” he said, shaking his head at the remains.
His wife, Becky, wasn’t home when the tornado came through, but she said it was heartbreaking to come home and see the damage.
“It’s a tragedy. You know, we’ve lived here for 48 years,” Becky said. “It’s a blessing it didn’t get to the house inside and that my husband is OK.”
The Lees had their family over for moral support and help on Monday. A restoration company was working today to stabilize the home so an insurance adjuster could come through and give further help to the couple.
— Daily Journal reporters Noah Crenshaw, Andy Bell-Baltaci, and Emily Ketterer, and intern Ashlyn Myers contributed to this report.
