Make wishtv.com your home page

‘It could have been really bad:’ Randolph County picks up the pieces following tornado

Emergency officials give info on Randolph Co. tornadoes

WINCHESTER, Ind. (WISH) — Randolph County officals and Gov. Eric Holcomb gathered Friday morning at the Winchester City Building and provided details regarding the recovery efforts and damage estimates from Thursday night’s severe weather.

Two rounds of storms hit Indiana on Thursday, bringing heavy hail, severe thunderstorm warnings and tornados. The town of Winchester in Randolph County was hit hard by at least one tornado, with several business and homes destroyed or damaged.

Bob McCoy, mayor of Winchester, said 22 homes were possibly destroyed and 110 were badly damaged.

“There’s houses that are leveled, Taco Bell leveled. I really praise the Lord for this one because we could have been, it could have been really bad,” he said.

McCoy says people from across Winchester are pitching in to help clean up.

“Street crews are working; we have local construction crews volunteering their time to get out there and clear things … we’re waiting to make sure everybody’s safe as far as volunteers are concerned,” he said.

McCoy added they have been sending people who are in need of a place to stay to Winchester Community High School. The American Red Cross is also assisting in recovery efforts.

Gov. Holcomb says he stands with those affected in Randolph County and credited “Hoosier Spirit” in the effort to put the community back together.

“This community has just gotten a lot larger. It’s going statewide and people are gonna wanna rush in here to help and I just applaud you for thinking how quickly you’ve turned to address nature’s wrath. I think the only thing more powerful than that wrath is our Hoosier spirit and that spirit of teamwork,” he said.

Holcomb added that the Indiana Department of Transportation, Indiana State Police, and the Department of Homeland Security will be in Randolph County “until the job is done.”

Like Holcomb, Indiana State Police Sgt. Scott Keegan, public information officer from the Pendleton Post, had only good things to say about the response he’s seen in Winchester.

“The wrath of this really begins today when people realize the magnitude of the destruction of their homes, you know, their livelihoods, and the list goes on and on and on.. I can’t say enough about the people that have come out and said, ‘Let me help. I’ve got chainsaws in the back of my truck. Let me help.’ And I’m sure that’s gonna continue to happen.”

Hoosiers who want to help out in Winchester need to wait until things are safer, state police say. Officers are stationed around town and anyone who doesn’t have an essential need to be there will be turned away.

“Remember, if you find something out there, it’s not yours. That property belongs to somebody — so that’s another thing that we’re probably gonna start to experience,” Keegan said.