Severe storms and tornado damage homes and power lines in Indiana

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Storm clouds are seen from Ronald Reagan Parkway on Tuesday in Indianapolis. Photograph: Brent Drinkut/AP
A tornado-producing storm hit central Indiana on Tuesday, damaging homes south-west of Indianapolis and downing power lines and uprooting trees in the city and its suburbs, authorities said.
It was one of several thunderstorms that sprang up in south-western Indiana near Terre Haute and became more severe as they moved north-east toward Indianapolis. National Weather Service meteorologist Mike Ryan said the tornado struck in the afternoon just southwest of Indianapolis and caused extensive damage to at least three homes.
That storm then headed into Indianapolis, where public safety director Troy Riggs said city emergency officials received reports of house and tree damage and downed power lines on the southwest side of the city.
A Wayne Township fightfighter walks past a home damage by a storm in Indianapolis. Photograph: Michael Conroy/AP
Indiana state police sergeant Rich Myers said no injuries were reported. "That's the good news," he said.
The city of Indianapolis opened an operations center to organize its response to the storm, homeland security director Gary Coons said.
"Something hit here. Whether it was straight-line winds or a tornado, something with a lot of wind hit here," Coons told WRTV. "We're just trying to assess and see how much damage there is."
Indianapolis Power and Light Co reported more than 1,600 customers without service shortly after the storm in a second straight day of storm-related outages in the city.
As the storm moved into the northern suburb of Carmel, Duke Energy reported about 100 customers without power.
Heavy rains accompanying the storms prompted the weather service to issue flash flood warnings for much of central Indiana.

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Video Report: Americans on the Front Lines of Climate Change

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A fire chief in Colorado whose department is battling increasingly intense blazes in the American West. A Texas rancher struggling to operate in the face of years of drought. Oyster farmers in Washington state scrambling to adapt to increasingly acidic waters that are damaging their harvests. These Americans are the subjects of videos created by The Story Group, a non-profit journalism initiative. The videos are meant to put a human face on the science behind the recently released National Climate Assessment, which stressed that global warming is already having a major impact on the United States. The first video features Elk Creek, Colorado fire chief Bill McLaughlin, whose department fought a major 2012 wildfire that killed three residents and burned 4,140 acres. “Climate change is very real,” says McLaughlin. “It’s changed my entire life.”

This video focuses on rancher Clay Igo of Plainview, Texas, which has been experiencing a prolonged drought that has taken a heavy toll on ranchers and farmers. “It seems like it’s doin’ nothing but getting hotter, drier, and less rain yearly,” says Igo.

Brittany and Dioni Taylor of Shelton, Washington are fifth-generation oyster farmers now coping with a major threat from ocean acidification, which impedes the ability of oyster larvae to form shells. “This farm has kept our family together — it’s our glue,” says Dioni Taylor. “It would be devastating to lose such a big part of our history.”


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