Manage Alerts -- A fast-moving storm front crossed Indiana Friday night with suspected tornadoes damaging homes and business buildings. No serious injuries were immediately reported.
The possible tornado touchdown in central Indiana's Shelby County prompted numerous reports of damage, but authorities were still assessing its severity, a sheriff's dispatcher said.
Other suspected tornados were reported near some suburban Indianapolis communities, with several buildings damaged in both areas, said John Ogren, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Indianapolis. Some injuries were reported in the Fairland area around the suspected Shelby County tornado site, he said.
Debris was blown onto Interstate 74 about 10 miles southeast of Indianapolis, causing a couple crashes but no injuries, state police Cpl. Jeff Simmons said. Troopers closed the highway for about 45 minutes while the debris, mostly from trees, and the crashes were cleaned up, he said.
The storm tore a wall from a home near Greenwood, exposing a second-floor bedroom and a bathroom. Charlie Mascheck said his family had to dash to safety.
"All of a sudden we just heard that sound that everybody tells you about," he said. "Realized we were right in the middle of it and everybody ran to the middle of the stairwell and got on top of each other and rode it out. It only lasted maybe a few seconds and it was over."
The storm damaged several warehouses and outbuildings around Greenwood, where downed trees and utility poles cause many power outages, city police Lt. Robert Dine said.
"We've got witnesses who did see a funnel cloud drop out of the sky and do the damage to the houses with roof damage and a lot of damage to the industrial area," he said.
The line of storms moved through at up to 45 mph, hours after temperatures reached into the 70s in central Indiana. The weather service issued tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings for much of the state through the evening.
"These storms were also prolific hail producers. We've had reports of golf ball-sized hail," Ogren said. "We got hail from these because we are getting more into the spring type of storm. They have stronger updrafts and have more wind and hail."
Large hail and downed trees were reported in Putnam County, about midway between Terre Haute and Indianapolis, sheriff's dispatcher Dee White said.
The storms were weakening as the front moved across southeastern Indiana and into Ohio, Ogren said.
