Update: Tornado Touches Down Late Friday Night

Mobile home collapses trapping occupants on Kokomo’s South side

Updated 11:30 AM-April 1, 2023

Almost 58 years to the day from the anniversary of the Palm Sunday tornados that hit Kokomo and Howard County a weather front that stretched across the midwest including Illinois, Arkansas and Indiana spawned at least one documented funnel cloud that touched down in Howard County late Friday night.

The National Weather Service had issued a severe weather alert earlier in the evening and tornado sirens went off at approximately 10:30pm in Kokomo and Russiaville. According to Kokomo/Howard County police and sheriff department scanner traffic, and confirmed by Howard County Emergency Management Agency Director Janice Hart, at around 11pm a funnel cloud touched down near 400 south and 350 West, extensively damaging the garage of one home, then continued on a path to 550 East causing a mobile home to collapse, trapping the occupants inside.

Director Hart also noted extensive damage to the Terrace Meadows addition off of Southway Boulevard, with roof colapses, downed power lines and trees uprooted. Buildings at the corner of Southway Boulevard and Lafountain Street recieved damage as well, knocking down commercial signs and light poles.

There were many reports of utility lines down in the area causing power outages. As of 10 am Duke Energy reported that 694 customers in the Southern Kokomo area and 23 customers in the Greentown area are still affected.

Hart also confirmed that one individual from the mobile home collapse was transported to St. Vincent’s Kokomo. State Road 26 and the adjoining roads were closed by Howard County EMA and traffic was re-routed.

According to the National Weather Service the Palm Sunday tornado of 1965 was one of 47 tornados that killed 271 people and injured over 1500, the fourth deadliest tornado outbreak in US history. In Indiana 137 people were killed and over 1200 injured from 10 tornados during the late afternoon and evening of that day.

The system that moved through last night also hit Little Rock, Arkansas killing two people and collapsed the roof of the Apollo Theatre in Belvidere, Illinois, killing one and injuring 28.

See the picture gallery below of the damage from last night’s storm.

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