The National Weather Service announced earlier this week that tornadoes were confirmed near the Town of Hanna.
Saturday Storm Brings Winter Weather Advisory for much of Northern Indiana
Field Moisture a Challenge Following Tornado
A weekend tornado in Starke County was reported to have damaged crops slightly, but hail and the added rainfall may begin affecting production even more.
Storms have left fields a bit damp for farmers as standing water has been reported in fields throughout Starke and Pulaski County. Standing water begins to affect roots after a couple of days.
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Tornado Confirmed in Weekend Storms
A tornado has been confirmed to have appeared in Starke County during weekend storms.
Officials from the National Weather service traveled to Starke County Monday afternoon to survey the damage. According to Starke County Emergency Management Agency Director Ted Bombagetti, the category of the tornado has not yet been determined.
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Melody Drive In Owner Hopes to Reopen Soon
The Melody Drive In should be back in business by the weekend. Co-owner Fred Heise, Jr. tells WKVI news the goal is to open with movies on screen two Friday, a week after strong winds ripped down screen 1 and caused extensive damage to the ticket booth at the popular Bass Lake attraction. Meanwhile, Heise is waiting for an insurance adjuster to assess the damage before the piles of debris can be hauled off. Nobody was injured.
Heise says his long-term goal is to replace the damaged screen, but until then he says movies will rotate through on the remaining one.
“We’re going to have to shuffle a little bit as far as the types of movies and when we’re going to play certain movies, so if people can just be a little patient we will play everyone’s movies. We may have to wait on a few of them, but we will eventually get around to them,” Heise says. Before opening for the season, the Melody Drive In underwent a digital upgrade. Heise says the past weekend has been quite trying for his parents. He adds the entire family will be fine, and says they appreciate the outpouring of support from friends and neighbors.
Third Intense Storm In Three Weeks Tears Through N. Indiana
Another intense storm rolled through northern Indiana over the weekend – the third significant storm to hit the area in three weeks. NIPSCO reports that at its peak, Saturday evening’s storm caused more than 60,000 NIPSCO customers to lose power, and more than 3,000 Kankakee Valley REMC customers were without power as well.
According to the National Weather Service, the storm produced winds up to 70 mph, causing widespread damage across several northern Indiana counties. Power lines were downed, transformers were blown, and poles were broken.
Destructive Storm Tears Through Starke County and Surrounding Area
A destructive storm ripped through the Starke County and Knox areas Tuesday morning, cutting out electricity to over 80,000 NIPSCO and Kankakee Valley REMC members at one time.
Starke County EMA Director Ted Bombagetti talks about where most of the damage is located.
“Most of the damage is in the City of Knox itself,” said Bombagetti. “We do have some out in the outlying areas. The trees literally knocked down poles and wires. If you don’t need to be out, let the guys do their job and get the roads cleared up.” Homeowners may need storm damage repair services to restore their damaged properties.
He said the most important thing to focus on during times like this is getting emergency response to those who need it.
Culver Still Cleaning Up Storm Aftermath
Culver Clerk-Treasurer Karen Heim says the town has been busy cleaning up the remaining debris from last weekend’s series of storms. Many people lost power in the town through Saturday, and some residents were even without power until Sunday. Heim says the street department has been dealing with a large number of downed trees and limbs, but they are working their way through town cleaning up brush and debris.
Heim says that the storm caused a bit of damage to properties in the town. Some homes were damaged, a porch was reportedly destroyed, and a limb fell through a home. Several cars were damaged by falling branches and other debris, and at least one pool was taken out by the storm.
On a positive note, construction for the Safe Routes to School project is still underway, and crews are currently replacing sidewalks down School Street. Heim says that they have been working on the project since the beginning of June.
Storm Yesterday Causes Few Injuries, No Estimate On Power Restoration
Kankakee Valley REMC has reported over 7000 people without power in Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Starke, and Pulaski counties after the afternoon storm that tore through the area on Friday. KVREMC dispatched crews yesterday to affected areas to begin restoring power. Causing the outages are five substations that have been reported down due to transmission feeds from NIPSCO being out as well as broken poles and downed wires.
Starke County Commissioner Kathy Norem says the hardest hit area seems to be around Bass Lake, where boats were reportedly flipped over in the water and even tossed up on land. Several trees were felled and Norem says cleanup crews have their work cut out for them.
“The hardest hit areas seem to be in California Township around Bass Lake and North Bend Township, also around Bass Lake. The crews have been out, the highway department is out, the Sheriff’s Department has been out, but there is a lot of damage in that particular area and it’s going to be a long cleanup,” Norem said.
Brief Storm Causes Thousands To Go Without Power, Few Injuries Reported
A storm tore through the Kankakee Valley on Friday, cutting off power to thousands and causing a number of roads to be closed. The storm also caused at least two injuries, as two boys were injured when a tree fell on them near Bass Lake and were transported to IU Health Starke Hospital for treatment.
The Bass Lake area suffered a large amount of damage from the storm. Boats were reportedly flipped over in the water or even flung up on shore, and several piers were reported to have been broken or missing entirely.
