A powerful tornado in the United States that tore through southern Indiana and parts of Kentucky yesterday killed at least 23 people and injured more than 200.
Officials said the death toll would likely climb as rescue workers picked through rubble in house-to-house searches and scoured farmlands. About 130 Indiana National Guard troops were called in to assist in recovery efforts and to help provide security and clean up debris.
The Eastbrooke mobile home park in Evansville was one of the places hardest hit when the storm struck well before dawn, and many homes were destroyed amid downed trees, smashed cars, and other debris.
An apartment complex in nearby Warrick County was also hit hard, with the top floors ripped off.
Some 25,000 people were left without power because of the storm, which government weather officials said was the worst to hit the state in 17 years.
The funnel cloud hit at about 2am local time (8 am Irish time) yesterday, with little notice, touching down in northern Kentucky and then skipping across the Ohio River into southern Indiana. Alarm sirens sounded only about 10 minutes before the twister hit.