Chesterton reeling from EF2 tornado

CHESTERTON | Wednesday's tornado left a 60-yard-wide scar of snapped trees, downed power lines and damaged homes across 2.5 miles of town.

National Weather Service meteorologist Tim Halbach said the tornado hit EF2 status on the Enhanced Fujita scale with estimated maximum winds of 120 mph.

The determination was made based on the pattern of hardwood trees snapped off and other damage, Halbach said.

Emergency management representatives performed an aerial assessment of the storm's path, Fire Chief Mike Orlich said.

He said crews spent the day "assessing damage, getting things opened up, and working toward recovery," which included tallying the damaged buildings.

"We have 211 damaged structures, most are residential or accessory structures such as garages. Eight of those we've classified as destroyed since they are not livable; 54 are major damage, such as a tree through the roof or broken windows; and 149 are some type of damage, such as missing siding or downspouts," Orlich said.

He said about 355 customers were without electricity Thursday night and that NIPSCO crews were working to restore service, but some of those customers may not have service for some time due to extensive damage to the structure.

Town Manager Bernard Doyle said he met with Indiana Department of Homeland Security Executive Director Joseph Wainscott on Thursday to assess the damage.

Wainscott returned to Indianapolis with his report for Gov. Mitch Daniels to determine the next course of action.

Chesterton Middle School and an apartment building at Third and Brown streets were among the most heavily damaged buildings.

Doyle said the apartment building sustained "catastrophic damage." The roof of the building's six apartments was completely torn off, with sections littering nearby lawns and streets.

Chesterton Middle School sustained extensive damage to its gymnasium roof. The roof had just undergone a repair job over the summer. Classes at all Duneland schools were canceled Thursday because of the storm. Superintendent Dirk Baer said Thursday all schools, including the middle school, will reopen today.

No significant injuries were reported in the tornado, which hit the town about 7:40 p.m. Wednesday.

One minor injury involving scratches and bruises was reported, Doyle said.

No one sought refuge at the shelter staffed by the Porter County chapter of the American Red Cross at Town Hall. Red Cross volunteers did, however, feed hundreds of emergency response workers Thursday.

Tornado sirens did not activate during the storm, Orlich said. He said the tornado warning had expired but minutes later a tornado was sighted. Simultaneous to the sighting, the warning was issued by the National Weather Service, but the sirens didn't activate. He said officials will investigate why that system didn't sound.

"Sightseers" coming out to see the damage hindered the movement of firetrucks in the first moments after the storm hit, said Phil Griffith, director of Porter County Emergency Management. But no further damage or injuries were caused by the delays, he said. Griffith also said no flooding was reported in the storm.

About 13,000 customers were without power at the height of the storm, NIPSCO spokeswoman Colleen Reilly said. She estimated that several dozen homes may have sustained severe enough damage that they may not have power restored for a while yet.

Many neighboring towns and outside jurisdictions turned out to help through Wednesday night and Thursday. These included fire and street departments from Porter, Portage, Valparaiso, Washington Township, South Haven and Liberty Township. Also aiding the effort were Porter County EMS, the Civil Air Patrol, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Indiana State Police, Porter County Emergency Management, local Boy Scouts and the Porter County chapter of the American Red Cross.

Chesterton Street Commissioner John Schadenberg said his team will spend the next three to four weeks removing all of the debris and opening alleys.