Three people are dead after severe weather struck a trailer park in Winchester, Indiana, on Thursday evening, state police said.
No more details were immediately available from police, who confirmed three died in the park on N. Cash Drive.
Tornado watches covered a band of the United States from northeast Texas, across parts of Arkansas, across part of Indiana, and into Ohio on Thursday night, according to the National Weather Service.
Winchester’s government announced on social media just before 8 p.m. that there was a tornado warning, sirens were activated, and to “Please find shelter!”
Randolph County emergency officials warned that a confirmed tornado was on the ground, was near Winchester at 7:56 p.m. and was moving at 40 mph.
The Randolph County Sheriff’s Office said on social media that there is “heavy storm damage” and urged people to avoid the Winchester area as emergency crews responded.
The weather service said on a storm reporting website that there is damage in Winchester, which is likely from a tornado, but a tornado has not been confirmed. Survey teams often confirm tornadoes later after visiting scenes of damage.
There was also damage in Selma, a small community west of Winchester, including downed tree limbs and power lines and damage to structures, video of the scene from NBC affiliate WTHR of Indianapolis showed.
More than 13 million people in the U.S. were under tornado watches Thursday night, according to the weather service.
Winchester is a town of around 4,800, located about 65 miles northeast of Indianapolis, close to the Ohio border.
There were also reports of tornadoes and damage in Mercer and Logan counties in Ohio, according to the weather service. In Lakeview, Ohio, buildings were reported destroyed.
In Huron County, Ohio, emergency officials reported a tornado an estimated half-mile wide crossing a highway, according to that report on the weather service’s storm reports website.
