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Whiteland, Ind. (WISH) — The town of Whiteland is seeking volunteers to help with the continued recovery from the tornado that destroyed much of the community on March 31.

The town is looking for greeters, interviewers and safety trainers to work at the volunteer center.

Anyone interested in volunteering can contact the volunteer center in the Clark Pleasant Schools administration building at 50 Center Street in Whiteland.

Interested volunteers can also email jccoad@gmail.com or contact the town at townofwhiteland.com.

(Provided photo, Town of Whiteland)

Monroe County tornado

ELLETTSVILLE, Ind. (WISH) — A tornado with winds up to 135 miles per hour touched down Saturday night in Monroe County, the National Weather Service said.

No injuries were reported, according to local authorities.

The powerful storm destroyed at least two homes and damaged dozens of structures.

At least seven homes sustained “major” damage, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said.

Broken utility poles, tree limbs and other storm debris remained strewn across roads and yards Sunday afternoon in Ellettsville, a town of approximately 6,500 people in Richland Township.

Sheets of metal from a wind-battered billboard along State Road 46, near Flatwoods Road, lay in a crumpled heap near a family’s driveway.

The homeowner, Diana Scroggins, said it was the first tornado she had experienced in her 33 years in Ellettsville.

“This is the first and I hope it’s the last,” she told News 8.

Scroggins was returning from purchasing her weekly lottery ticket when she spotted a dark funnel cloud heading in the direction of her home.

“A policeman turned on his lights and pulled over,” she said. “I flew around him, flew in my driveway, ran in the house and yelled at my husband to get to the basement.”

The two sheltered downstairs “just in time,” she added.

Their house sustained relatively minor damage — a shattered glass door and a leak in the roof — while other structures along Flatwoods Road appeared to be total losses.

Scroggins said she watched as the tornado swallowed barns and trees less than a quarter of a mile from her home.​​​​​​​

“We saw it hit the neighbor’s barn and it just went ‘Pffft!’ and it disintegrated,” she told News 8. “I saw sparks and I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s going to be on fire.’ And then when it hit the other barn up here, [it was] the same thing. Just poof and it disintegrated… There was no fire. I guess it was just the electricity [that caused the sparks].”

Utility crews shut down Flatwoods Road and raced to secure downed power lines Sunday afternoon as Scroggins spoke with News 8.

Several live wires landed steps from her home; one power line was draped across her roof and side deck. ​​​​​​​

Scroggins had yet to check her lottery numbers but said she, her husband and their two dogs — Buzz and Woody — were “lucky to be alive.”​​​​​​​

Brandy Denny, a lifelong Ellettsville resident, had the unique “luck” of encountering two sets of tornado warnings in a single night.

At least eight tornadoes touched down Saturday night in Indiana, according to the National Weather Service.

Denny was in Spencer, approximately 10 miles northwest of Ellettsville, where an EF1 tornado uprooted trees and caused mass power outages.

“My daughter was stuck down here [in Ellettsville] on Mt. Tabor Road where another one hit,” she said.

She rushed home as hail pelted her car and arrived in time to see the EF2 tornado make landfall in Ellettsville, Denny told News 8.

“I looked over and there was a funnel cloud getting ready to touch down in the field,” she recalled. “I love storms. I’m always saying, ‘We never get good storms.’ Well, this was a little too good for me.”

NWS: 2 tornadoes in beech Grove among 8 confirmed in Indiana

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The National Weather Service has confirmed eight tornadoes as part of Saturday’s severe weather across Indiana.

Confirmed tornadoes and their preliminary classifications:

On Sunday afternoon, the NWS office in Wilmington, Ohio, confirmed a tornado occurred at the Richmond Mall in Wayne County. The NWS said the tornado was listed as EF unknown crews continued to survey the damage. 

Around 7:30 p.m. the Wilmington office confirmed tornadoes caused damage in Bentonville in Fayette County and in northern Union County.

The Indianapolis office of the NWS tweeted on Sunday confirming a tornado in Beech Grove:

Officials early Sunday morning said three other tornadoes touched down in Owen County near Freedom, near Ellettsville in Monroe County and in Rushville in Rush County. 

On Sunday afternoon, officials with the NWS said the activity in Rush County was not confirmed but crews planed to survey the damage on Sunday afternoon or Monday. 

The NWS confirmed the tornadoes in Owen and Monroe counties in a Sunday afternoon tweet, adding a tornado in Greene County: 

Beech Grove mayor holds press conference following EF1 tornado

It is possible more tornadoes touched down across the state, however officials are working to confirm those touchdowns. 

Photos: Severe weather hits central Indiana

Investigators will travel to Bartholomew County near Columbus, parts of Decatur County and Brown County near Stone Head. They will assess the damage in these areas to confirm whether tornadoes did touch down. 

Severe Weather Recap Daybreak 6a

There have been no reported injuries in the counties that were affected by severe weather Saturday night. 

RELATED LINK | LIVE BLOG: Tornado warnings issued across central Indiana

An EF0 tornado touched down in Vincennes Thursday afternoon near Bandmill Road.

According to John Streeter, the Knox County EMA director, multiple homes and at least two Duke Energy power lines were damaged as a result of today’s heavy winds.

Streeter says approximately 68 homes loss power due to the tornado but Duke Energy crews worked this afternoon to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.

Streeter also says that the area near Bandmill Road has experienced tornados and strong winds in recent years, but he has never seen rain like Thursday’s.

A neighbor of the area says her property was destroyed due to the tornado.

“I started looking around, I saw trees down, we have lots of cedar trees and I saw a tree down here and one on the other side of the house. I looked through the garage area and our garage door was down, it was laying across our car and our pickup,” said Rita Lavely, Vincennes resident.

Streeter asks that drivers take extra caution if they expect to travel Thursday, as flash freezing can cause roads to become slick.