The National Weather Service, after assessing the damage in the City of Elkhart, has confirmed a tornado touched down on the south side of Elkhart in the early morning hours of Tuesday, July 16.
As a result of this confirmation, Elkhart County Emergency Management is in the process of declaring an emergency for Elkhart County.
Overnight, severe storms caused power outages for thousands of Hoosiers, with many reporting uprooted trees and downed power lines in their neighborhoods.
“Tornado surveys can often take a few days just because it takes a while for us to determine where the damage was. Drive out there, take photos, and interview emergency management,” says Maddie Johnson with the National Weather Service.
Johnson says that when storms hit, surveyors often check to see if straight-line winds or tornadoes caused the damage.
“So, if I had two trees, I was looking at whether the trees had fallen in the same direction; that is probably straight-line wind damage,” says Johnson. “If they had fallen convergent towards each other, then that’s more indicative of rotation.”
Johnson says that when the NWS talks to eyewitnesses, they sometimes hear about power flashes or lightning strikes at night. She says this can be a sign of rotation during nighttime storms.
*non-emergency, please call 574-293-2175
*report damage to 211 and MyElkhart311
*for property owners who sustained damage, beware of scammers; please call dispatch to confirm if the person who came to your home is a trusted representative of the city or county
