Storm Clean-up Begins in Indiana
Pastor Dale Morgan
Storm Clean-up Begins in Indiana*
Associated Press
June 1, 2008
INDIANAPOLIS - Thousands of Indianapolis residents are without power
this Saturday after the east side of the city was struck by a tornado
late Friday.
People began picking through debris looking for anything to salvage from
the storm which ripped off roofs, snapped trees, and downed utility lines.
Fortunately the violent winds didn't kill anyone but one minor injury
was reported.
Emergency workers served more than a hundred storm victims at one local
church turned shelter.
"Some of these folks came in with the clothes on their backs or pajamas,
and they were soaked, too," said American Red Cross spokeswoman Beth
Smietana.
Relief agencies also began registering victims for help on Saturday.
Natasha Prim, who registered for help, said she and her mother had
finished dinner and were enjoying a quiet night at her apartment when
she heard tornado sirens followed by silence.
"All of a sudden you could hear the wind picking up, and it just kept
getting stronger and stronger," said Prim, 29.
They ran to a closet in the middle of her first-floor apartment and
heard the storm tear the roof off.
"It just sounded like 20 trains coming at you," she said. "It seemed
like forever, but it was probably 45 seconds at that."
The storm blew out the windows of Latasha Lewis' home, tore a hole
through her kitchen roof and ripped her screen door off the front door
with the frame still attached. Lewis, 28, fled to her mother's house and
managed only to grab some clothes. She also stopped by the shelter for help.
Her 1-year-old daughter, Chardea, played with a stuffed Mickey Mouse
doll provided by the Red Cross as people stood in line nearby, waiting
to register.
"It could have always been worse," she said.