14th Anniversary of F-3 Tornado in Henderson, KY and Southern Indiana
I just survived a tornado and I couldn't call my parents or anybody to let them know we were okay because the power was out.
I was just so happy me and my kids were okay! I remember trying to sleep on the sofa in our front room because the two windows in my bedroom had blown out and there was glass all over the room. I heard people outside my home all through the night many of them asking if we were all okay. Bless them for doing that.
Today marks the 14th anniversary of an F-3 tornado that touched down in Henderson County, KY and parts of Southern Indiana that included my own neighborhood in Newburgh.
It was a devastating F-3 tornado that took 25 lives in the early morning hours that day. Three of my neighbors on my street totally lost their homes, but, I consider myself one of the lucky ones. My home was still standing, but, had lots of damage. And, no one in our area of Newburgh was severely hurt! (We're so very blessed).
Here's some pictures I took of my own home and in my neighborhood after the sun came up that day on November 6, 2005.
From Eyewitness News WEHT:
At around 1:50AM, an F3 tornado touched down 2 miles north-northwest of Smith Mills in Henderson County, Kentucky. The tornado moved northeast, snapping numerous trees, destroying a farmhouse, and throwing a pickup truck into a field. The tornado then crossed the Ohio River and moved across a rural peninsula of Vanderburgh County, Indiana. Few structures were impacted in this rural area, though a two-story house built in 1875 sustained major roof damage, and tree branches were embedded into the walls of the house. One farm equipment shed was demolished, and another sustained major damage.
The tornado crossed the Ohio River a third time back into Indiana and across the southern fringes of Evansville. Here, the tornado ripped directly through the Eastbrook Mobile Home Park, obliterating numerous mobile homes and killing 20 people. Of about 350 mobile homes in the park, 100 were destroyed and another 125 were damaged. The coroner reported that most of the victims were probably killed instantly, many by spine and skull fractures, with several bodies were carried almost two hundred yards. The tornado then crossed into Warrick County, Indiana at the Angel Mounds State Historic Site. Several permanent homes were destroyed in this area, along with many others on the north side of Newburgh.
Once past Newburgh, the tornado reached its peak intensity (high-end F3) as it tore through an industrial park near Paradise. Further northeast, the tornado passed just south of Boonville and caused a fatality in a mobile home.
The tornado then tore directly through the small community of DeGonia Springs, tossing vehicles and destroying homes. Some of the homes in the community were leveled, and three people were killed in a mobile home in this area.
The tornado began to rapidly weaken as it passed just south of Tennyson, and then dissipated as it crossed into Spencer County, Indiana.
Overall, the tornado damaged or destroyed 500 buildings, killed 25 people, and injured 230 others.
A memorial to the people who lost their homes, loved ones, and lives during the tornado has been placed at the former Eastbrook Mobile Home Park in Evansville.
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