Historic Indiana gym damaged as tornadoes, severe weather slam state

Severe storms battered Indiana on Sunday, bringing two reported tornadoes and causing damage in multiple counties.

Initial National Weather Service reports on Sunday night documented downed power lines, 65-mile per hour winds and an inch or more of rain around the state. Around 2 p.m. two tornadoes were reported, the first near Brownstown in Jackson County and the second near Portland in Jay County.

The weather service will likely deploy at least one survey team on Monday to get a better sense of the damage and confirm the two tornadoes, said weather service meteorologist Joseph Nield.

Central Indiana largely remained under a tornado watch for most of the afternoon and early evening, according to the National Weather service, followed by a flash flood watch into the night.

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While not the norm, Neild said he wouldn’t necessarily call this severe weather unusual for November in Indiana. The state has seen even more extreme severe weather around this time in the past, he said, including an outbreak of tornadoes that lasted for days in 2002.

A key ingredient for these storms is strong winds, which are common in the fall, Neild said. Sunday’s weather was brought in with a cold front.

The storms were expected to last well into Sunday night with a flooding risk into the early hours of Monday. The weather service issued a flash flood watch for areas near and north of Interstate 70 until 4 a.m. Monday.

A historic Indiana gym in downtown Muncie was damaged with an apparent gaping hole in the west side of the building. Authorities told The Star Press a tornado may have touched down downtown nearby, although it was not immediately confirmed. Numerous trees, limbs and utility lines were also downed Sunday afternoon.

On Sunday night, Muncie Community Schools cancelled classes for K-8 on Monday and announced an online learning day for high schoolers “due to damage.”

Jay County emergency dispatch told The Star Press Sunday afternoon that many calls were coming in to 911, reporting structures damaged or downed by a tornado. One call over the emergency scanner reported an injury to someone who had been hit by a door.

Jay Schools cancelled classes on Monday due to the storm damage and power outages.

Hamilton County dispatch confirmed a roof collapsed at 276th Street and Ditch Road in Sheridan. The area, including Carmel, Fishers and Noblesville, remained under a flash flood warning through the evening.

Multiple utility poles and lines were reported down in Madison County, one on State Road 13, according to National Weather Service reports. A shed on the south side of Tipton was destroyed by a 64-mile per hour wind gust, reports said.

The weather also delayed the start of the men’s college basketball exhibition between Indiana University and the University of Indianapolis. A warning said a thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was located 12 miles north of Bedford and was moving east at 30 mph. Fans at Assembly Hall were originally moved to shelter, and IU officials advised students to take shelter campus-wide.

Different areas were affected by outages as the storms moved through the day. Duke Energy reported 5,727 customers without power around 3:45 p.m., with most outages in the northern part of the state. IPL Power reported 26 affected customers. Around 6 p.m. Indiana Michigan Power reported more than 28,000 customers affected by outages in the northeastern part of the state.

Neild said the weather looks "quiet" for the next week. He expects temperatures to be cool but dry, "much more like what you'd expect in November."

Call IndyStar reporter Justin L. Mack at (317) 444-6138 or email him at justin.mack@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter: @justinlmack.

Call IndyStar reporter Emma Kate Fittes at (317) 513-7854. Follow her on Twitter: @IndyEmmaKate.