More storm damage than first thought

By FRANK PHILLIPS
frankphi@hotmail.com


Once again, Clay County fared better than our neighbors.
A line of severe thunderstorms spawned tornado warnings in counties east and south of Brazil, but according to the Clay County Sheriff's Dept., the only damage reported in Clay County was downed trees, power lines and other debris. No injuries had been reported at press time.
Some examples of local damage:
• On Church Street, near Eastside School in Brazil, a large walnut tree fell onto a house.
• A large tree fell on a mobile home occupied by Audrey Morlan and her son, Claude Hill.
• On Billville Road, a barn and a metal garage were destroyed and a tree fell onto a house.
• On Kennedy’s Crossing Road, a large wooden grainery owned by Timothy Weaver was rolled off its foundation.
“I don’t know what to do with it,” Weaver said. “It’s not torn up. It just rolled.”
Weaver estimates damage to be about $3,000.
As of Monday morning, there were “road hazards everywhere,” according to a Clay County Sheriff’s Dept. spokesman.
Drivers were urged to exercise care as they traveled through the county.
A "Doppler-indicated" tornado warning was issued for northwest Clay County Sunday evening, according to WTHR-TV, Indianapolis. However, that line of storms quickly headed north of Clay County into Parke County, affecting Rosedale and headed toward Rockville.
Storms did knock out power in northeastern Clay County for a period of time.
But the majority of the power outages in the Wabash Valley occurred to the south and west of Clay County, Cinergy reported.
Throughout central Indiana, tens of thousands of customers were without power Monday morning. Cinergy crews were kept so busy through the night Sunday and into Monday, the planned unveiling of a new sign for Duke Energy, Cinergy’s parent company, was canceled, said Rick Burger, manager of Cinergy’s Brazil District.
Severe weather blew through Sullivan County, knocking WTWO-TV’s, Farmersburg, Ind., studios and transmitter off the air for a period of time and causing some equipment in the station to malfunction, said Meteorologist Dan Reynolds after the station went back on the air.
Putnam County residents suffered large hail and damaging winds, WTHR-TV reported. There was also a possible tornado that touched down near Greencastle.