The following statement is from the Howard County Board of Commissioners.Our region was visited by four (4) tornadoes on March 31, 2023, beginning at 10:45 PM.
The first tornado began ESE of Colfax in Clinton County and was considered to be a EF1 with 110 MPH winds and was on the ground causing damage for approximately 6.79 miles. It ended at 10:53 p.m.. This tornado only caused minor damage for a short period of time before doing significant amount of damage southwest of Frankfort.
Tornado #2 was classified as an EF0 beginning at 11:11 p.m. and began south of Russiaville and ended at 11:12 p.m. just south of Russiaville. Damage included home and barn damage along with downed trees.
Tornado #3 was and EF0 with 80 MPH winds beginning at 11:15 p.m. 4 miles ENE of Russiaville and ending 4 miles West of Indian Heights at 11:17 p.m. This storm caused damage to some out buildings, and a playground set was thrown to the northeast. There was damage east of 350 West to an attached garage and small barns. Several trees were damaged. A vehicle was turned 45 degrees.
Tornado #4 was an EF1 with 110 MPH winds which began at 11:20 p.m. 4 miles NE of Sharpsville in Howard County. This tornado traveled towards Greentown for seven minutes. Damage included two barns, homes, and a mobile home. One small barn was completely destroyed along with the mobile home which cause a serious injury. The home and larger barn also was damaged. This tornado continued to do considerable tree, barn and home damage to farmsteads to the northeast. The tornado continued into a larger neighborhood near county road OS where it mainly did roof and tree damage to tree rows.
Many areas in the county received damage from straight line winds as well. This damage included loss of shingles, downed trees, loss of power due to downed power lines. As of Saturday evening, damage was still being assessed in Howard County and debris being cleaned up.
Howard County officials would like to thank our local first responders, city and county employees, EMA, volunteers, and everyone who worked during the storm and after the storm to protect and serve the citizens of Howard County. Power crews were working throughout the night and weekend to return power to the community.
*The report of the National weather is preliminary and subject to change pending final review of the events and publication of Storm Data.