INDIANAPOLIS — Residents cleaned up Saturday after a tornado plowed a trail of destruction through the east side of Indianapolis, but they gave thanks that nobody was killed.
The storm blew through late Friday, ripping roofs off several apartment buildings, snapping trees and toppling power lines.
Eighteen people were treated for “very minor” injuries, said John Ball, the area’s emergency management director.
“It is a miracle that we didn’t have serious injuries or death,” he said. “A gentleman told me last night at the shelter that he was lying in bed and heard a rumble, and the roof was gone and he saw the sky.”
The American Red Cross of Greater Indianapolis housed 170 people overnight in a church gym in the city of nearly 800,000.
“Some of these folks came in with the clothes on their backs or pajamas, and they were soaked too,” said spokeswoman Beth Smietana.
