78-mph winds pound city, county
Flooding, flying debris, downed trees and power lines accompanied the rain, snow and nearly 80-mph winds Tuesday night, leaving severe property damage and sporadic power outages but no reported injuries.
Severe thunderstorms, accompanied by a tornado warning, struck Putnam County at 7 p.m., and by 8:30 the temperature had plummeted nearly 30 degrees as emergency responders fanned out across the county clearing roadways and surveying damage.
"Most of the damage is in the northwest area of Greencastle," said Police Chief Tom Sutherlin, who was at the scene of both flooding and significant property damage in Greencastle's Moore Court.
He reported that emergency personnel had been dispatched to clean up downed trees on Indiana and Arlington Streets, and a utility pole down on Poplar Street.
Though Sutherlin was standing amidst sheets of twisted metal that were lodged in treetops as high as 40 feet above the ground, he said Moore Court had escaped the worst damage, which was reported on West Walnut Street.
Fire officials on scene at a house across the street from the entrance to the DePauw University Nature Park fought blistering wind and sleet as they sifted through what was once Roy York's garage.
Though equipment and appliances were still standing on a cement floor place, the entire structure of the garage was gone, along with the York's front porch. Just down the road, a barn with horses in it was destroyed at Wilson's quarter horse farm. At the time, fire officials did not report any injuries to the owners or their horses.
Greencastle Fire Chief Bill Newgent said that his crews were dispatched on multiple runs ranging from downed trees and power lines to the most severe property damage.
"There are no reported injuries at this point," Newgent said who added that Emergency Management Services was helping to coordinate local responders.
"We won't have an accurate damage estimate until day break."
Fire officials also reported roof damage at Black Lumber and window damage to Neal Tire.
Though both police and fire officials said it was too early to comment on speculation that a tornado had struck parts of Putnam County, a wind shear of 78 mph was recorded by weather-gathering equipment at the Putnam County Courthouse.
Tornado sirens were activated in northeast Putnam County including Fillmore, Heritage Lake and Roachdale.