Storms Packing High Winds Cause Damage In Central Indiana

Updated April 9 at 4:12 p.m.

MOORESVILLE, Ind. (AP) — Severe storms with high winds, hail and possible tornadoes swept across the Midwest and caused damage to homes and businesses in central Indiana, authorities said.

A few injuries were reported following Wednesday night's storms and the threat of more severe weather was forecast for the coming days throughout much of the United States.

In the central Indiana community of Mooresville, about 15 miles southwest of Indianapolis, bricks were scattered along the town’s main downtown thoroughfare and traffic was blocked by debris. Police Officer Brock A. Chipman told WISH-TV that the storm knocked the second story off a two-story vacant building, and one woman was slightly injured after power lines fell on her car.

Indiana’s stay-at-home order amid the coronavirus pandemic likely kept people out of danger as the storms moved through, tearing roofs off some buildings and damaging downtown storefronts, said Division Chief John Robinson of the Mooresville Fire Department.

“We have some small restaurants downtown here and folks would be in those under normal circumstances. Luckily, because of the virus everyone was gone. Honestly, that’s sort of a blessing,” Robinson told WXIN-TV.

More than 100,000 utility customers in Indiana lost power following the storms across central and southern Indiana. About 36,000 remained without power as of 3 p.m. Thursday, with Duke Energy reporting 25,000 lingering outages and Indianapolis Power & Light more than 11,000.

The National Weather Service in Indianapolis sent a survey crew Thursday to the Mooresville area and other communities to assess storm damage and determine whether there were tornadoes, said meteorologist David Beachler. Among the other places in the state reporting damage was the central Indiana community of Whiteland.