Northwest Indiana woke up today to splintered homes, blocked streets and a long cleanup after multiple strong tornadoes carved paths through Lake and Porter counties Thursday evening, part of a larger outbreak that battered northern Illinois and the wider Midwest.
The early assessment is grim but contains one piece of genuine relief: despite homes being totally destroyed, only minor injuries had been reported as of overnight, though search efforts and damage assessments remain ongoing.
What happened
The storms arrived in waves beginning in the late afternoon, having already produced tornadoes in Illinois, including one that collapsed homes in Streator, before crossing the state line. A tornado was first observed near State Line Road moving through the St. John area, then tracked northeast toward Schererville before witnesses reported a stovepipe tornado near 61st Avenue and Broadway in Merrillville.
A second powerful tornado tracked further south. The National Weather Service warned at 8:12 p.m. that a confirmed large and extremely dangerous tornado was over Kouts, about 8 miles east of Hebron, prompting a rare Particularly Dangerous Situation tag and warnings that flying debris could be deadly. Additional touchdowns were reported near Lowell along Interstate 65 and near Wanatah in LaPorte County…