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UPDATED: Storm Damage for Clay County
As severe weather swept through the Wabash Valley Friday night, it missed most of Clay County, traveling along the southernmost part of the county.
Friday evening, the National Weather Service out of Indianapolis issued an overnight hazardous weather outlook for central Indiana.
In Clay City, the road by the Pizza Gallery, West 8th Street, was closed after high winds damaged the roof, which landed on the building next door Friday evening. Pizza Gallery is open for business Saturday.
Many people took to social media to check on friends and family, share photos of the damage, and offer help to anyone who needed it.
Tonya Bettis asked Facebook Saturday morning for help, "Need help putting a tarp on the trailer; half of my daughter's roof just got ripped off!"
Brazil resident Steve Mitchell was the first to reply, "Where are you at?"
Mitchell, who lives in the Edgewood Subdivision and only had some branches in his yard, went to help.
"When I saw the post," said Mitchell, who went to help Ashley Bettis put a tarp on the roof of her trailer in Brazil. "I was happy to help. It was the right thing to do."
Ashley and her 4-year-old daughter awoke to a metal sound in the trailer but went about the day. While at the grocery store, the winds were really strong, and when Ashley came home, she saw half of the trailer roof lying next to an outbuilding.
"My roof got ripped off during the horrible winds," Ashley said. "I'm a single mom with a full-time job. However, I don't have any funds to redo my roof!"
Ashley is grateful for Mitchell and her two coworkers who came to help.
"Without his help, we wouldn't have the roof over our heads and the stuff we own in our trailer," she said. "It's a small trailer, not much to look at on the outside. But it is pretty nice for us on the inside."
Ashley said she needs to find out how much a new roof would cost or if that is possible to do for the home she is buying on contract.
A GoFundMe fundraiser has been created to help Bettis at https://www.gofundme.com/f/fu2v8-help-with-house-repairs?utm_source=messenger&ut....
The Clay County 911 Dispatch Center was exceptionally busy during the overnight weather event and into Saturday. The Sullivan County 911 Dispatch Center calls were transferred to Clay County because of the extreme damage from the tornado.
"It got really busy in here last night," said Assistant Chief Dispatcher Elissa Paul. "There was widespread damage throughout Clay County, but mostly trees and limbs down, and power and phone lines."
Paul said the dispatch center remained busy throughout
Saturday afternoon.
In Sullivan County, officials confirmed the damage from the deadly storm destroyed homes, knocked down power lines, and reported multiple gas leaks. Indiana State Police said three people were confirmed killed in Sullivan County.
As first responders worked within the community Saturday morning, state and local officials urged residents who don't have to leave or don't live in the area of destruction should stay in their homes so emergency responders and utility workers can travel and work safely.
Governor Eric Holcomb arrived in Sullivan County Saturday afternoon to survey the damage before signing a state of emergency for Sullivan and Johnson counties, which were hit the worst by the storms.
During a press conference late Saturday, Holcomb said this is a disaster that will "remain in our minds for a long time."
Chief Meteorologist Ted Funk at National Weather Service in Indianapolis released some preliminary information during the press conference about the tornado in Sullivan. The tornado was possibly an EF3 with wind gusts as high as 136-165 mph, an 1/8-1/4 mile width path for 8-10 miles, and moving approximately 40-50 mph.
Funk said it would take a few days to look at the destruction and examine the data before the NWS would have exact data.
On Saturday, a high wind warning by NWS was issued through the evening with the expectation that strong winds gusts of 50 to 60 mph are possible through the afternoon, decreasing slowly through the day.
The extended forecast includes a chance of thunderstorms returning Monday night through Wednesday. The storm front can consist of large hail, damaging winds, and tornadoes are possible during this period, primarily Tuesday afternoon through early Wednesday.
Funk said the last time tornados caused this type of damage early in the year was in 2012.
ORIGINAL - April 1, 2023 @ 3 pm
As severe weather swept through the Wabash Valley Friday night, it avoided most of Clay County, traveling along the southernmost part of the county.
Friday evening, the National Weather Service out of Indianapolis issued a hazardous weather outlook for central Indiana overnight.
In Clay City, The road by the Pizza Gallery, West 8th Street, in Clay City, is closed after high winds damaged the roof, which landed on the building next door Friday evening. Pizza Gallery is open for business Saturday.
Many people took to social media to check on friends and family, share photos of the damage, and offer help to anyone who needed it,
On Saturday, a high wind warning was issued through the evening with the expectation that strong winds gusts of 50 to 60 mph are possible through the afternoon, decreasing slowly through the day. Clean-up in Clay County was a lot of debris thrown around by the wind and a few downed trees.
The extended forecast includes a chance of thunderstorms returning Monday night through Wednesday. The storm front can include large hail, damaging winds, and tornadoes are possible during this period, primarily Tuesday afternoon through early Wednesday.
This story will be updated.