EF3 Tornado Strikes Down on Nappanee, Indiana

A tornado ripped through the northern part of Indiana in the town of Nappanee late Thursday evening, destroying or at least damaging every home and business within its path. There were over one hundred homes damaged or destroyed and many businesses were impacted, as well, including fast food restaurants, factories and other structures. There have been five minor injuries reported.

This is the largest twister in Nappanee since 2001 which was also in late October.

The tornado was reported Thursday evening. After the area was investigated by local officials, there was initially no damage found. However, radar indicated several circulations across parts of the area so there were several tornado warnings. People heard the emergency sirens about five minutes before the tornado hit Nappanee.

The twister began at the intersection of 12B Road and Gumwood Rd., west of Bourbon where shingle damage, tree branches and small trees were found. The circulation intensified as the storm moved northeast between Bremen and Bourbon, reaching the high end of an EF2 at this point. There were several structures, trees and power lines damaged in this area. Prior to crossing into Kosciusko County, the width of the tornado reached one half mile.

Eight homes were destroyed with nine homes suffering extensive damage in northwestern Kosciusko County. The tornado grew stronger and more intense as it moved toward the southern part of Nappanee where it peaked as an EF3 reaching winds of 165 MPH south of highway 6 and County Road 7 near the Gulfstream manufacturing plant where cinderblock building walls were knocked down, though boats and vehicles in the building are still intact.

The Blackstone Subdivision also sustained substantial damage to homes. The roofs were ripped off of several houses. The second story was completely gone off of one home and the exterior walls collapsed, though Interior walls were still standing.

A woman was trapped in one home until she managed to crawl out.

After passing through Nappanee, the tornado continued to move east, causing damage to more homes, farms and vehicles. Well built homes sustained little damage. It lifted near the intersection of county road 46 and 17 west of New Paris in Elkhart County, where it had weakened to a width of two hundred yards.

The tornado was on the ground for twenty miles with a maximum width of one half mile.

Currently, there are power lines still down caused by damage from the tornado.

Sources:

National Weather Service