At Least 3 Dead in Indiana as Severe Weather Tears Through Midwest

At least three people were dead after storms tore through Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio on Thursday and tornadoes were reported, according to news reports.

Local officials believe a tornado hit a trailer park and killed three people in Winchester, in eastern Indiana, according to 13 WTHR, an NBC News affiliate. However, meteorologists said they were still working to confirm that a tornado had touched down there.

“Radar data and reports from spotters and local officials are highly suggestive of a tornado,” Joseph Nield, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Indianapolis, said in a phone interview on Thursday.

A Weather Service team was set to travel to Winchester on Friday morning to assess the situation, he added.

Elsewhere, in Jefferson County, Ind., officials reported extensive damage, Sgt. Stephen Wheeles of the Indiana State Police said on social media. “A tornado has reportedly touched down all across Jefferson County, Indiana,” he wrote. “Multiple homes are damaged, with trees and power lines down.”

The sheriff in Jefferson County, Ben Flint, told The Associated Press that three or four single-family homes and four or five other structures had been destroyed. Several unoccupied recreational vehicles along a river were also demolished, he added.

“We were fortunate that no one was injured,” Sheriff Flint told The Associated Press in a phone interview.

Officials in Ohio said they were still assessing severe storm damage to a lakeside mobile home community near Lakeview, Ohio.