Give Now  »

Noon Edition

Severe Thunderstorms Strike Southern, Central Indiana

Storms

Severe storms rolled through Indiana early this week, producing high winds and dumping heavy rains across the Hoosier State. Those storms produced three tornadoes, caused hazardous flooding and left thousands without power.

While the high amount of rain has caused problems for residents, it's also spelled serious trouble for some Indiana farmers, who face hundreds of millions of dollars in crop damages.

This week on Noon Edition, we'll speak with sources from around the state and examine just how the recent storms are affecting Hoosiers.

Our guests this week:

  • Steve Crowe is a farmer and president of the Greene County Farm Bureau.
  • John Erickson is director of the Public Information Office at the Indiana Department of Homeland Security.
  • Al Shipe is a hydrologist with the National Weather Service in Indianapolis.


Need to get caught up on the topic?

Check out some of our coverage from this week.

1. Weekend Storms Leave Damage In Johnson, Morgan Counties

A report from the National Weather Service suggests a high-end, EF-0 tornado early Sunday morning is responsible for widespread damage to trees, as well as 10Â homes, along State Route 135 between Samaria and Prince's Lakes in Johnson County.

Branches and limbs were still scattered across several people's yards Monday. Entire trees were uprooted in some neighborhoods.

Prince's Lakes resident Roy McMahon says he was asleep early Sunday morning when what sounded like a freight train barreling through the neighborhood woke him up.



2. Body Of Missing Brown County Man Recovered

The Indiana Department of Natural Resources says Travis Watkins, 37, was trying to cross Gnawbone Creek behind his home on Hoover Road so he could check on his grandmother. He was swept away by the rising creek and could be heard yelling for help.

Police searched the area for Watkins until about 3 a.m. Tuesday, when more storms rolled through Brown County. They resumed the search later Tuesday morning and discovered Watkins' body around 3:30 p.m., less than a mile from where he fell into the creek.



3. Indiana Rivers Reaching Crest Levels Not Seen Since 1979

The storms that passed through Monday added insult to injury. Many parts of the state had already received between 5 and 12 inches of rain just in the last week. Monday's storms dumped as much as six inches of rainfall on these already wet areas.


You can ask your questions by joining our live chat, following us on Twitter @NoonEdition or calling into the program at 812-855-0811.

Noon Edition airs Friday at 12 p.m.

Support For Indiana Public Media Comes From

About