More than 2,000 homes in Warrick County are believed to have been impacted on July 30 by an evening EF-1 tornado, which forecasters say packed winds of 110 mph.
The tornado left utility and tree damage. The fallen trees, limbs, and powerlines also snarled traffic in multiple locations. But there were no reported serious injuries.
The neighborhoods most harmed were about four miles northeast of Newburgh, Indiana, on and around Telephone, Coalmine, and Fuquay roads.
“It’s extensive,” Warrick County Emergency Management Agency Director Matthew Goebel says of damage in those areas. “We have seen houses with trees on them, cutting them wide open. There is substantial debris and structural damage to houses.”
The tornado touched down about 6:30 p.m. and stayed on the ground for 12 minutes, covering 11 miles and spanning up to 300 yards in width, according to the National Weather Service in Paducah, Kentucky.
It formed in the Melody Hill area of Vanderburgh County, near Evansville Regional Airport, before crossing Interstate 69 into Warrick County.
CenterPoint Energy reported about 33,000 outages on Tuesday night, a potentially dangerous situation given the week’s extreme heat index. Castle High School in Newburgh, Indiana, and Chandler, Indiana’s Cumberland Presbyterian Church served as overnight shelters. Boonville, Indiana’s Main Street United Methodist Church Evansville’s C.K. Newsome Community Center opened as cooling shelters in the interim, and CenterPoint prioritized restoring power to care facilities. The number of customers without electricity decreased to 11,000 by late Wednesday morning and 3,500 that evening. By Thursday night, though storms that afternoon increased the number of outages, the number was at nearly zero.
Goebel says damage assessments are ongoing, and volunteer forces are assisting with debris removal throughout the impacted areas. He says the Ohio Township Volunteer Fire Department is the headquarters for those efforts.
The storm had less impact in Vanderburgh County, although a few light poles at the Goebel Soccer Complex off North Green River Road were either pulled from the ground or bent. That damage will not impact upcoming tournaments, because temporary light fixtures may be used if repairs are not completed on time, says Tim Fulton, general manager of the soccer complex and Deaconess Sports Park.
A storage building at the soccer complex belonging to a local soccer club was demolished.
Areas of northeast Vanderburgh County also saw tree and crop damage, says Cliff Weaver, director of the Evansville-Vanderburgh County Emergency Management Agency.
Several punches from severe storms have thrashed the area, the most recent being a remnant of Hurricane Beryl that produced seven – one EF-3, an EF-2, and four EF-1 – tornadoes that cut through Posey and Gibson counties in Indiana and Union County, Kentucky, on July 9. An April 2 storm system with 70-90 mph winds ripped parts of the roof off the Evansville Wartime Museum and flung debris across northern Vanderburgh County. After making temporary repairs, the wartime museum reopened on Aug. 3.
