SULLIVAN, Ind. – Three people were killed when a massive tornado swept through Sullivan County, Indiana, due to a widespread tornado outbreak that pummeled the Midwest and South on Friday night.
The twister touched down about 10:30 p.m. Friday local time in the rural community nestled along the Illinois border southwest of Bloomington, and left a trail of destruction for 3 to 4 miles, officials said.
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“It did a lot of devastation – knocking down power lines, knocking down trees, taking houses off their foundation and demolishing the VFW for Sullivan County,” Indiana State Police Sgt. Matt Ames told FOX Weather.
Sullivan County Sheriff Jason Bobbitt said the towns of Sullivan and New Lebanon sustained heavy damage with homes in both the city and county are severely damaged and some are completely leveled.
Ames said the three deaths so far were from people in their homes and search and rescue efforts are ongoing.
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“Right now, we’ve got an RV that’s sitting on top of a house; we’ve got vehicles picked up and thrown into local corn fields,” Ames said. “It’s going to be very slow, meticulous work for our first responders to get in and do a more thorough search.”
But Ames credited the tight-night community for coming together in the wake of the tragedy.
“We live in small community,” he said. “The people volunteered, coming out to locate people and making sure they were OK.”
A state of emergency has been declared for the affected areas, Bobbitt said. Sullivan City Hall and area churches have been opened up as safe shelters.