January 30, 2008

By Ryan Lenz, AP

POSEYVILLE, Ind. — A shaken Ron Mason stared into the rubble of a mobile home where firefighters had found the bodies of his mother and sister among a mix of strewn furniture, appliances, clothes and fallen tree limbs.

Photo: Family member and friends of Kathryn Mason and her daughter Donna Fay Zophs who died Tuesday when their mobile home north of Poseyville, Ind,, was demolished in the wind storm, go through the debris looking for papers, belongings and anything that can be salvaged from the mobile home Wednesday Jan. 30, 2008. (By Daniel R. Patmore, AP)

"They found them in the living room. I'm assuming they were watching TV," the 49-year-old Mason said with a drawn face as he watched friends and relatives sift through debris Wednesday.

The National Weather Service said a tornado flipped the mobile home the night before near Poseyville, a rural area in southwestern Indiana. Kathryn Mason, 83, and her daughter, Donna Fay Zoph, 57, were among four killed in quick-moving but fierce storms that raced across Indiana, packing wind gusts up to 80 mph.

A second tornado ripped a portion of the roof off an apartment complex on the west side of Indianapolis, said meteorologist Dave Tucek. A weather service team determined damage a little further west in Avon was done by straight line winds estimated up to 100 mph. Thousands were still without power Wednesday across the state.

The storms were followed by temperatures that plummeted from the mid-50s to single digits overnight.

Poseyville resident Marilyn Prince said she was fixing dinner when the storm swept through. The 68-year-old woman lives in the country, so there were no sirens and she didn't have time to get to the storm cellar. She cowered near her refrigerator instead.

"It came in an instant," she said. "There wasn't the whole roar like they talk about. The first thing I heard was glass breaking."

The house where she and her family have lived for 42 years was destroyed, a century-old tree was shorn from their yard and a flagpole was bowed by the winds.

"We're OK and that's all that matters," she said. "God was with us."

In Henryville, 33-year-old Candy Moore died of asphyxiation after she was pinned under debris that fell on her mobile home about 20 miles north of Louisville, said Clark County deputy coroner Kevin Collins. Wind and heavy rain might also have led to a head-on collision in New Albany, just north of Louisville, that killed 41-year-old Charles H. Ennis.

The storms brought heavy rain, hail up to a half-inch in diameter, lightning and thunder to much of the state. Winds damaged or destroyed several homes and downed power lines and trees. The highest recorded wind gust was 81 mph in Greencastle.

Michael Koch, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service said severe weather in January is rare.

"It's just a real strong system for whatever reason," he said. "It was able to draw up all the Gulf moisture, which aids in storm development. The moisture was key there."

In Danville, about 20 miles west of Indianapolis, residents reported seeing a funnel cloud before winds tore the roof off a house, said Hendricks County Sheriff's Department dispatcher Belinda Cope.

In Martinsville, about 20 miles southwest of Indianapolis, the roof of the Morgan County Courthouse was damaged. School was canceled for the day there and in a few other districts because of power outages or cold.

Duke Energy reported more than 3,200 customers without power Wednesday afternoon with more than half those in Morgan County. Vectren reported about 3,000 customers without power Wednesday in southern Indiana, but expected most electricity to be restored by the evening.

Wind gusts and heavy rain made driving tough. Three semitrailers were blown over in a Kmart parking lot in Elwood, about 40 miles northeast of Indianapolis, and another overturned on Indiana 57 near Washington in southern Indiana.

The weather service issued a winter storm watch that lasts from Thursday evening through Friday evening. Koch said central Indiana could expect 4 to 8 inches of snow with rain and freezing sleet possible.

Contributing: Associated Press Writer Emily Udell in Indianapolis contributed to this report.

http://www.usatoday.com/weather/storms/2008-01-30-in-storms_N.htm

www.standeyo.com/NEWS/08_Earth_Changes/080130.IN.storms.html