BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Dozens are cleaning up after an EF-2 tornado touched down in Monroe County near Bloomington Friday evening.
Several residential areas were impacted by the storm, including the Economy Inn off Old State Road 37. Amanda Prince lives in the complex and was in awe of what she saw in the sky that night.
“There was a total funnel cloud, and it started to throw up debris and stuff,” said Prince. “I just sat there, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh. Is this really going to happen?'”
Within minutes, the low-grade tornado wreaked havoc on the complex. The storm ripped the siding off of several buildings, peeled away roof shingles and an A-frame structure at the front of the property was lifted off of its foundation.
Prince said while her unit didn’t receive the worst of the storm, recovery will be a lengthy process.
“I was just told that it could be six to eight months before we can go back in,” said Prince.
Monroe County Emergency Management and the Department of Homeland Security estimate that’s how long most of the cleanup will take.
Both agencies were out in the area doing assessments on Monday. The number of damaged structures continues to grow. EMA said there are now more than 100, around 45 of which are a total loss.
Directly across the street from the Economy Inn, a storage facility for Habitat for Humanity no longer stands.
“It was two pole structures, and that had some vehicles inside and outside,” said Jamie Neibel, director of Emergency Management. “A Conex storage container was relocated on top of some cars.”
Down the hill, Lindsey Porter was sheltered in her bathroom when the tornado passed over.
“We could feel it like shake the house, and it was here,” said Porter. “It lasted maybe a minute, but it felt like just a really loud freight train coming.”
When she came outside, Porter’s car was flipped upside down, several feet from where it was parked.
Her neighbors, however, lost much more than just their vehicles; brick walls collapsed from the wind and tarps now cover holes in the roof.
“I’m lucky that we’re alive and we still have our home,” said Porter. “Cars can be replaced, but it’s still upsetting.”
This is just a small stretch of the tornado’s path.
“It was a good, almost 10 miles that it spent on the ground,” said Neibel.
Emergency management said that five people were hurt, all of whom have been treated and sent home.
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